




























History 


OF 







HIC AGO 


FROM 


1833 TO 1892 


AN OLD SETTLER 





























History of Chicago 

FROM 

1833 TO 1S02 

DESCRIBING THE 

DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROUTE FROM NEW YORK TO CHICAGO 


AND HARDSHIPS OF THE FIRST WINTER. 


ALSO 


DESCRIBING SEVERAL TRIPS TO THE VARIOUS VILLAGES AROUND, INCLUDING 
ONE TO THE EAST IN THE YEAR 1834, AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE 
PACKING AND GRAIN BUSINESS OF THE CITY IN 1812. 


J3^r CLEAVER 

ONE OF THE OLDEST RESIDENTS OF CHICAGO. 


ALSO GIVING A DESCRIPTION OF JACKSON PARK AND THE GREAT 
IMPROVEMENTS NOW GOING ON FOR THE WORLD’S FAIR. 


CHICAGO 

Published by the Author 

1892 











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INTRODUCTION. 


You will find in reading many of the articles pub¬ 
lished in this work, that they are copied from items 
written years since for the city papers, and at the 
suggestion of several friends have been collected to¬ 
gether for publication, adding other reminiscences 
and valuable statistics of the increase of population, 
trade, etc., that will certainly be found interesting 
and profitable to those anticipating a visit to the 
World’s Fair, and may be found useful in inducing 
others to come, who had not thought of doing so. To 
all such, I would say decide to come at once; you need 
not be detered from any anticipated difficulties in the 
way, as you would probably find none. The various 
lines of elegan fc dining and sleeping cars will be found 
awaiting you, at all the principal sea ports, and will 
no doubt reduce their fare to accommodate all com¬ 
ing, and the preparations being made here, to receive 
a great crowd, by building several very large hotels 
and apartment houses, is almost past belief, they are 
so numerous—and no doubt all will be able to find 
accommodations to suit them. 





r 


Early Chicago Reminiscences by an Old 
Resident of 1833. 


I left England, my native country, on the 18th of 
January, 1833, with a family and two orthreeyoung 
men friends of the family with the intention of emi¬ 
grating to Canada, which from books lent me to 
read before starting, was described as the county of 
all others, for a young man to go to, to seek his for¬ 
tune. We took passage in the packet ship Philadel¬ 
phia, a nearly new vessel of some thousand tons 
burthen, that sailed between London and New York. 
Y/hen she had got all her cargo on board, received 
from the warehouses of the St. Catharine docks, and 
most of her passengers, she was warped into the 
river at high tide which there rises some twenty-five 
or twenty-six feet; when soon after a tug came 
alongside of us and our voyage of some 3,000 miles 
commenced by steaming down theThames. We stopped 
a short time at Gravesend to take in stores, after 
which I went below and knew nothing further 
until our arrival at sunrise next morning in Ports¬ 
mouth harbor. It was a lovely winter morning, and 
the view delightful from the upper deck of the vessel, 
which was gracefully rising and falling on the swells 
of the blue waters, fresh from the ocean. The Isle of 
Wight, renowned the world over for its beautiful 
scenery, lay on one side of us, and the main land 



6 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


little inferior in beauty on the other. The water was 
alive with small craft, on the white sails of which 
the rays of the morning sun were shining, as they 
glided to and fro in the harbor, and altogether the 
scene was such as to do away with the depression of 
spirit I felt the day before on leaving my native land 
and my home for the first time; but soon all sail was 
spread to the breeze, when she slowly and majestic¬ 
ally moved from her anchorage to brave the wind 
and the waves of the broad Atlantic^ and well did the 
noble ship withstand their buffeting before she 
reached the further shore. In a few hours we lost 
sight of land and bid adieu to old England, For the 
first ten or twelve days the weather was fine and the 
winds favorable. We began to flatter ourselves we 
were going to make a quick passage. Our captain 
crowded all the sail he could on the vessel and talked 
of soon being on the banks of Newfoundland. We 
lounged about the deck enjoying the beautiful 
weather often for hours lying in the bow of the vessel 
looking at the numerous porpoises as they played and 
gamboled in the watery deep, seeming to enjoy the 
day as much as we did, showing every now and then 
their beautiful backs of gold that sparkled in the sun 
like diamonds. It was the very essence of enjoyment, 
but it soon came to an end; on the 1st of February 
the wind veered round to the northwest, dead ahead, 
blowing pretty fresh, and still day by day blowing 
harder and harder, until on the 5th of the month it 
culminated in a storm of the most terrific kind, blow¬ 
ing every sail from the ship, and for thirty hours she 
had nothing to steady her in the raging^'sea but a 
piece of canvas a foot or so wide woven into the 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1S33. 


7 


rigging. The first heavy sea that broke over us was 
in the night and the water poured down the 
hatchway in torrents. My bedfellow jumped from 
his berth exclaiming, “Oh, she’s settling, she’s set¬ 
tling,” but he was soon glad to get back, as the deck 
or floor was covered with water. The storm kept 
increasing in violence during the night, making 
every plank in her groan and creak as if she was in 
her last extremity. The morning brought us no re¬ 
lief. The officers were ordered to leave the cabins on 
the quarter deck and swing hammocks below. The 
cook had to vacate his cuddy and the passengers had 
to be satisfied with hard biscuits or anything 
they could get, as canned meats, fruits or vegetables 
were unknown or thought of in those times. Two 
men were lashed to the wheel to steer her, and every 
thing was done that could be for the gallant vessel to 
withstand the fury of the storm. The captain after¬ 
wards told me he expected every minute to have the 
deck swept clean, which would have been the case 
had one of the mighty waves struck her, but as she 
was laying too with no sail on she glided sideways 
over the heavy seas, sometimes in the trough, where 
we could see nothing but the great wave rolling on to 
us until we found our ship on the top of it. You 
have heard of waves being mountain high; after the 
storm had somewhat abated they actually seemed 
higher than the masthead. About noon, with two 
others of our party, 1 ventured into the round house 
on deck, where I witnessed a sight I hope never to 
see again. The fury of the gale was such that the 
spray beat against the windows like a most violent 
hailstorm; we could not see three feet across the 


8 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


deck and the roaring of the wind was so loud we 
could hardly make ourselves heard. It was truly a 
sublime though awful sight, and one I shall never 
forget. We were not allowed to stay there long, as 
the captain came and ordered us down, remarking 
that we might be swept away in a moment, should 
a wave strike her. The second day the storm began 
to abate or, as the sailors said, had blown itself 
out, and as the wind grew less the captain ordered 
out spare sails which were soon in their places, and 
we began sailing again on our right course. There 
was some damage done by the storm; the bulwarks 
were stove in on one side of the ship, a life-boat had 
been knocked from the davits and was landed bot¬ 
tom upwards on the deck. A favorite donkey of 
the family that was stabled in the long boat on 
deck was dead, also one of our best dogs, though 
the donkey’s foal was unhurt. The sailors told us 
we ought to be thankful we were not all dead. The 
wind continued ahead, during the remainder of the 
month; it was storm after storm. One day a poor 
sailor stepped overboard from the rigging, and as 
the seas were running so high, not an effort was made 
to save him; this caused a feeling of despondency 
among the whole crew, who declared there must be a 
Jonah aboard. One day we ran so far north, that the 
next morning the ship and everything about her was 
covered with ice, when the second mate, who was 
fond of a practical joke, came down into the cabin 
and called us young men to get up quickly and see a 
whale. Of course we dressed as expeditiously as pos¬ 
sible and were soon on deck peering over her sides 
to see the whale, when all we got for our pains was a 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


9 


loud laugli from the mate and sailors, asking us if 
we did not think it was a fine morning; bitter cold as 
it was, we got into our berths again as quickly as 
possible. One sailor in handling a forward sail got 
his boots filled with water, which froze to his feet and 
legs, laying him up for the remainder of the Yoyage. 
The following day the sailors were ordered to shake 
a reef out of the mainsail, a dangerous exploit to do 
in a storm at any time, but with all the spars and 
every rope frozen, much worse; not a man stirred till 
the second mate, seeing how matters stood, sprang 
into the rigging, taking his place where there was 
most danger, at the very end of the spar, when the 
others all followed like a flock of sheep, following 
their leader. At one time while walking forward on 
the vessel, and being on the lee side of the ship, in 
the trough of the sea, and seeing a huge wave rolling 
toward us, to escape it, I jumped on a spare spar 
lashed to the side of the ship, and catching hold of 
the rigging to which I clung, was dipped so deep 
under the water I thought I never was coming up 
again. These little incidents, though trivial in 
themselves, show what many suffered in olden 
times in making a voyage on board a sailing 
vessel. On a steamer such seldom happens, as large 
ocean ships propelled by powerful engines, can in 
a great measure avoid an ordinary storm by chang¬ 
ing her course a little; you seldom hear of any aeci- 
cident to one of them. The Cunarders say they have 
never lost a boat or passenger since they began cross¬ 
ing the Atlantic, thirty years since. But enough of 
storms. By the 1st of March the wind changed and 
by 4 o’clock on the afternoon of the lltli we were 


io 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


gladdened by the welcome cry from the man aloft, 
“Land ahead, land ahead!” Ah, who can tell but 
those who have been tossed about on a stormy sea 
for two long months, what a thrill of pleasure those 
few words filled every heart that night, to think we 
were nearing our desired haven. We found the vessel 
the next morning laying to about five miles from 
Sandy Hook, the entrance to the outer harbor or 
bay. A pilot boat soon came alongside and left us a 
pilot, taking the news from the old country back 
with them, being the first they had received in a fort¬ 
night, and that two months old. Just fancy what 
our board of trade men would think of such news, 
when now they want it every five or ten minutes. 
What a wonderful change in the last half century. A 
heavy fog coming up soon after left us in rather a 
perilous situation, being too near a lee shore for com¬ 
fort or safety, but the fog lifting about noon we were 
soon at anchor in the outer bay, where we were again 
left and did not reach our wharf at the city until the 
next evening, when we gladly left the vessel for Holt’s 
hotel on Broad street just by, where we got a good 
supper and were astonished at being charged only a 
quarter each. We then went to the Broadway house, 
selected for us by Mr. B,, who had been all day in 
the city, having got in on the pilot boat in the morn¬ 
ing. The next day in looking around we found a city 
of about 150,000 inhabitants, surpassing anything 
we had expected to see in America. The day follow¬ 
ing we made preparations to get the freight off the 
vessel, but there was so much of it of one sort and 
another, it took us two or three days to accomplish 
it. We had several loads of tools of all sorts, dozens 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 11 

of axes, a lathe and half a schooner load of fruit trees; 
a great many of the latter sold well at New York at 
auction. The remainder were shipped to Buffalo and 
subsequently by schooner to Chicago. We brought 
with us also guns and rifles and some good bred 
dogs; we had a greyhound, foxhound, setter, pointer 
and spaniel. We expected to go to a new country in 
Upper Canada and all things brought with us was 
supposed to be very scarce there. On our arrival in 
New York, finding we were too early for the opening 
of the Erie canal, which was the only practical way 
ofleaving for the west at that season of the year, we 
spent several days in making excursions to Brooklyn 
and Hoboken with guns and dogs after game of some 
sort, but without success except the shooting of a few 
woodcock in New Jersey. Game of any kind seemed 
very scarce, although the country was only settled 
by market gardeners and small farmers. Of course 
in the city everything was new and strange to us. 
Even as we walked the streets among the painted 
houses, being such as we had never seen before, also 
the light horses and curious drays,were so very differ¬ 
ent to the heavy cart horses and large wagons used 
in London, that we were reminded every minute 
while walking the streets that we were in a foreign 
country. The manner of doing business, also, was so 
different; it seemed as if they did half ofit on the side¬ 
walk. Time soon began to hang heavy on our hands, 
as the sights of the city were soon seen; there were a 
few good buildings put up, the Astor house just 
opened where one of our party went to board at only 
ten dollars a week, but it was prophesied it would 
be too far out of town to do much business. Thecity 


12 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


hall was building and five stone front houses nearby 
of which the citizens were evidently very proud as we 
were often asked if we had been to see them. The 
battery was the place of greatest attraction to our¬ 
selves and also to the fashionable ladies of the city. 
There was no Broadway with its fine stores to walk 
in, the best houses were in Greenwich street where 
the wealthy seemed to congregate, but the Battery 
with its little well-kept park on the inner bay where 
we could enjoy the sight of the vessels arriving and 
departing and the beautiful sea breeze that often 
blew fresh and invigorating from the ocean was a 
source of endless pleasure; we spent two or three 
hours there every day. The city exchange was also 
just built for about the same purpose as our board 
of trade. We visited it daily to make inquiries about 
the next packet ship, the Sampson, that was to sail 
ten days after us and we expected a party of our 
acquaintances on her, but looked for her in vain for 
the next thirty days, and when she did arrive we 
found she had been caught in the same storm that had 
struck us on the 5th of February and had been so in¬ 
jured she had to put back to Cork, in Ireland, for re¬ 
pairs. By the 20th of April, the day on which the 
canal opened, we were quite ready for another star: 
on our journey to the west, and on the 21st Mr. B. 
and all his family with two other friends, left on a 
^steamer up the Hudson river for Albany, George D. 
and myself, staying till the next day to get the 
remainder of the freight on board, which we did 
and sailed ourselves with it for Albany, where we 
found Mr. B. anxiously awaiting us on the wharf, as 
he had engaged passage for us all on a canal boat that 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


13 


was just ready to start for Buffalo. These boats 
were drawn by two horses that were stabled on the 
fore part of the boat, where two others were kept, 
and they took turns alternately working six or eight 
hours and resting the same, but they both got a good 
rest that trip as we had to lay by two or three days 
while the canal was being repaired, one side of which 
had broken away letting all the water out and all 
the boats lying on the bottom. But we young men 
having a constant source of enjoyment roaming the 
woods which lined the banks, with our dogs and guns, 
and now and then shooting a few stray pigeons, 
really enjoyed it as much as the elder part of the 
party deprecated their hard luck in being confined to 
the narrow space allotted them in the boat for so 
long a time. 

We passed several fine villages during ourtrip, the 
largest of which was Syracuse, Utica, Lockport and 
Rochester, then villages only in their infancy, now 
cities containing a population of many thousand 
each, Lockport, the highest point on the canal, ex¬ 
cited our interest from the many locks built there. 
Rochester also from the canal crossing the Genesee 
river and viaduct. This town also had two or three 
large flouring mills on the river where they ground 
the wheat, corn, etc., raised on the rich land on the 
valley bordering the stream. We also took a look 
at the salt works on the line of the canal, where all 
the salt then used in the country was manufactured 
or boiled down. In due time we arrived at Buffalo, 
then the principal city of the west containing 
8,000 or 9,000 inhabitants, and was then what 
Chicago is now, the distributing point for all the 


14 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


country still further west as well as the center at 
which all the products of the soil were collected for 
the eastern market. But what a contrast; then a few 
packages of goods were shipped by steamer to 
Detroit to supply that and other smaller ports on 
the lake, with the merchandise and goods they need¬ 
ed from the east, bringing back in return a few hun¬ 
dred bushels of grain for the mills at Black Rock, and 
sometimes at Rochester, whereas now millions of 
bushels pass through the city yearly, both hy water 
and rail, besides the arrival of immense quantities 
of beef, pork, flour and fruit received and shipped by 
railroad and canal each vieing with the other to se¬ 
cure their share of the traffic. On arriving at Buffalo 
Mr. B., the head of our party, took a house for a few 
months, as some of the party determined to travel a 
little in Canada, and see the country for themselves 
before finally making up their minds to settle there, 
which was our original intention on leaving London. 
Four of them having’so’determined, purchased horses, 
saddles, etc, and began their journey by riding first 
to Toronto to present some letters of introduction 
they had to the Governor of Canada, and after spend¬ 
ing a few days in the city, which then contained a 
population of some 8,000 or 9,000, about the same 
as Buffalo, continued their journey through the 
woods to Detroit, some of them being dissatisfied 
with the look of things on the route, seeing farmers 
who had been settled there for years, and very little 
to show for it, and afterwards meeting a person on 
board the steamer on which they returned from 
Detroit to Buffalo who had been visiting Chicago, 
and spoke very highly of its prospects and of the 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


15 


prairie country adjoining it on the south and west, 
assuring them that they could purchase land of the 
Government contiguous to the village for a dollar 
and a quarter an acre with nothing on the surface 
but a crop of grass on which they could begin plow¬ 
ing and harrowing at once and raise a good crop of 
grain from it while they would be clearing an acre 
of timber from the land in Canada, and then have it 
full of stumps; consequently part of them, myself 
among the number, determined to come west to Chi¬ 
cago, and fearing to go round the lakes in the small 
schooners then sailing determined to go by land, and 
began preparations at once by the purchase of horses 
and wagons and making other necessary arrange¬ 
ments, but we did not leave Buffalo until the 26th of 
August. During the absence of the party in Canada 
we had several days ofgood shooting, the pigeons in 
the woods near by and the fishing at Black Rock on 
the Niagara river about three miles from the city 
was really splendid. Many a time did two of us go 
there by sunrise, and in an hour or two catch 30 to 
35 pounds of fish each weighing from two to five 
pounds, which we took home hanging on a pole be¬ 
tween us, and as we pulled them out of the water 
their scales shining and shimmering in the summer’s 
sun, the very sight of them would have made an ep¬ 
icure’s mouth water. But the time had arrived for 
our leaving Buffalo, which we did on the day 
above mentioned, loading the one horse wagon with 
mattresses, bedding, extra clothing, cooking utensils 
and everything thought to be necessary in a new 
country. The two horse wagon was on springs with 
seats on each side like an omnibus where the family 


16 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


could all ride with good roads, but we had to travel 
about ten miles from the city on the shore of Lake Erie, 
where the sand was very deep and several of the par¬ 
ty had to walk, which they found very fatiguing in 
the deep sand as six of them were ladies, young and 
middle aged and had not been used to that kind of 
life. The next day we found the roads were good 
and continued so through Pennsylvania and Ohio the 
first 300 miles of our journey. The weather was 
fine, and we really enjoyed ourselves, it was like one 
continued picnic. Generally selecting some pretty spot 
by the side of a murmuring brook or under the 
grateful shade of a tree on which sometimes a grape 
vine had climbed for support from which hung clus¬ 
ters of ripe grapes, at other times a patch of black¬ 
berries attracted our attention from which we pick¬ 
ed the luscious fruit, and enjoyed it in all its freshness; 
it was in some such places we generally stopped to 
prepare our midday meal cooked in a bake oven, or 
frying pan over the embers of a wood fire, no camp 
stove being thought of in those early days, at night 
always finding some wayside tavern or accommo¬ 
dating farmer to give us and our horses shelter, or 
a room or two sufficed if we could do no better in 
which we spread our mattresses and bedding. At 
some places where we stopped, they would make us 
as welcome as possible, giving us the best of meals, 
and all the fruit we needed. Our route lay along the 
southern shore of Lake Erie, as fine a country as 
you would wish to see. Erie was then a village of a 
few hundred inhabitants. Cleveland, one of the pret¬ 
tiest towns through which we passed, had about 
2,000. Soon after passing the latter city, the roads 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


17 


began to get worse, and when within a short dis¬ 
tance of the Maumee ri ver, we had to cross one of 
the vilest of swamps, well named the Black Swamp. 
It was some thirty miles across, and most of the way 
crossed with small round logs, making what was 
called a corduroy road. It took all da}^ to cross the 
middle of it, where finding a log house partially 
built without a roof and only half floored with split 
logs, we took possession of it, glad to find even 
such a shelter from the wind with a dry place on 
which to spread our bed, etc. Although we had to 
sleep for the first time under the broad canopy of 
Heaven, however, the night proved fine, so we suf¬ 
fered more from anticipation than from the reality. 
We were glad enough, notwithstanding, to get away 
from it next morning, and reached Perrisburgh a 
small village just settled on the Maumee river, where 
I got the best shot at ducks I ever made, getting a 
dozen fine mallard ducks to carry back with us, but 
here ended every comfort and pleasure of the journey. 
Good roads were left*behind and were but a small 
exception; for a few days they were as bad as they 
well could be. It was nothing but out of one mud- 
hole into another the day through. The road was 
through heavy timber, a cross road through the 
woods from Lake Erie to the Detroit road through 
Michigan. The days were getting shorter, the weather 
cooler, provisions scarcer and more expensive, accom¬ 
modations for the night more difficult to find. We 
realized the fact keenly that we were in a new coun¬ 
try. At White Pigeon Prairie finding a few miles of 
good road and urging our jaded horses a little faster 
than usual, one of the double team, an old mare, 


18 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


dropped in lier harness, and there we had to leave 
her. A neighboring farmer coming by, sold us an 
old horse that he warranted would carry us to 
Chicago, or to the Rocky Mountains, for that mat¬ 
ter, but we soon found to our sorrow he was past 
much work and good for nothing. From this time 
forward till we got to Chicago, we had hard times, 
which will*be best described bv copying an article I 
wrote for one of the papers some twenty-five years 
since, which I trust will be found interesting. Just 
fancy yourself standing on the road leading from the 
east into Michigan City, Indiana, one cold, raw, 
wet afternoon, about the middle of October, 1833, 
where you would have seen two covered wagons, 
one drawn by two horses, the other by one, wending 
their slow and tedious way along the muddy, miry 
road leading from Laporte to Michigan City, only 
14 miles apart, but which had taken the whole 
day to accomplish, occasioned by the dreadful roads 
through which the tired horses had dragged them¬ 
selves, for it had been out of one mud hole into an¬ 
other the whole distance, and the poor beasts looked 
pretty well pegged out from their day’s work, and 
the previous 500 miles they had already come on 
their journey. Some of the party were walking and 
from their appearance and mud-bespattered clothing, 
looked as if they had put their shoulders to the 
wheels more than once that day. Walk with them 
to the tavern to which they are evidently bending their 
steps, and while standing there, let us take a look 
at the occupants as they alight from their vehicles. 
It is very evident from their appearance, that they 
are not rough Hoosiers from Indiana, or Buckeye’s 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


19 


from tlie backwoods of Ohio, for there is, notwith¬ 
standing their travel-worn appearance, something 
in their looks and manners which stamp them far 
superior in mental culture and civilization to the 
rough, uncouth persons usually seen tumbling out of 
a moving wagon, though probably not so well cal¬ 
culated to get along in a new country or to endure 
the privations experienced for the past few weeks, or 
the travel and hardships of the next few days as the 
other classes would have been. Their very wagons 
look as if taste and neatness were not wholly forgot¬ 
ten. They are a large family the heads of which are 
a gentleman and lady passed the meridian of life, an 
elderly lady accompanying them, and nine children, 
the eldest a young man just approaching manhood, 
and his four brothers, three young girls not yet in 
their teens, and one just entering that important era. 
Two young men, friends of the family, traveling with 
them, complete the party. Then together, they com¬ 
prise a group not often seen so far west in those early 
times when Chicago was on the very confines of civ¬ 
ilization. 

But they are now quietly seated in the tavern, a 
description of which will answer for nineteen out of 
twenty of all they have stopped at during their jour¬ 
ney. The outer door opens into a large room used as 
a sitting room for the men folks, and also as a bar¬ 
room, for in one corner, generally in the angle, you 
will see a cupboard, with two or three shelves, 'on 
which are arranged in bottles, the different colored 
liquors. I suppose the color is about all the difference 
you could have found in them, as the brandy, gin and 
whisky generally came from one distillery in Ohio, 


20 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


with the addition of burnt sugar and juniper berries 
to suit the taste of their customers. From this room 
you would enter the family sitting room, also used as 
a dining room for travelers, and out of that usually 
a kitchen and small family bedroom. The upper 
story, although sometimes divided into two rooms, 
was often left in one, with beds arranged along the 
sides. Once in a while you might find a curtain drawn 
across the further end of the room, affording a little 
privacy to the female portion of the occupants, but 
often not even that, the beds being occupied promis¬ 
cuously on the first-come-first-served principle. Meals 
usually consisted of bread, butter, potatoes, and fried 
pork; now and then you might get a few eggs, but 
not as far west as our travelers now find themselves. 
Such were the accommodations travelers had to put 
up with in those early days. If they could find a tin 
washbasin and clean towel for the whole party to use, 
generally used standing on a bench outside the back¬ 
door, they considered themselves fortunate. Nine 
times out of ten the beds were all occupied, or at least 
bespoken, but our travelers were well prepared for 
such occurrences, as the one-horse wagon was filled 
with mattresses, blankets, pillows, cloaks, and other 
articles to make up comfortable beds on the floor, 
which was done according to circumstances, some¬ 
times in the barroom, and sometimes in the dining 
room. The time spoken of in Michigan City it was 
in the inner room, where, at 10 o’clock, we will leave 
them for the night, the female portion of the family 
on the mattresses, the male on the softest board they 
could pick out, wrapped up in a blanket and cloak,of 
which I was one of the party. 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 2l 

We were early astir the next morning, not that we 
need have been, had not the room been wanted for 
other purposes, for we had determined to spend the 
day there to rest the horses before venturing on the 
forty-two miles of lake shore, without a house be¬ 
tween us and the Calumet river. During the day we 
found ample time to see all there was to be seen in 
the embryo city, which then contained probably about 
fifty inhabitants. The buildings consisted of one 
small brick ta vern, a frame one opposite, a blacksmith 
shop, a store, and half a dozen houses, built in, on, 
above and below the sand. It was literally a place 
of sand, being located on far more sand hills than 
ever ancient Rome was on hills. It appeared to be 
about the southern point of Lake Michigan. A small 
creek emptied itself into the lake, though apparently 
much too small for any harbor ever to be formed 
there, which, however, was done by our government 
a few 3 r ears after. Altogether it was one of the most 
drear}^ looking places imaginable, nothing inviting 
about it. Our party were making what preparations 
we could for the morrow’s journey, but provisions 
were very scarce. All we could get was half a sucking 
pig, two small pieces of pork and half a bushel of 
potatoes; no butter or milk was to be had for love or 
money. Fortunately we had flour and honey in the 
wagon, so we felt satisfied our provisions would last 
us through. From all the information we could get 
we had made up our minds to spend one night on the 
lake shore, either in the wagon or under the broad 
canopy of heaven. It was very evident from our con¬ 
versation that we dreaded the journey, for two of our 
horses were about used up, and the loads were heavy, 


22 


Early Chicago reminiscences 


but we will again leave them for the night. The next 
morning found us up bright and early for a start, and 
after getting breakfast and repacking the wagons we 
made it by putting the three horses to the smallest 
wagon and hauling it over the hills to the shore,when 
the lady and children started with it on their toilsome 
journey, while the men folks took a span of horses 
back for the double wagon. We soon found the 
depth of the sand and the difficulties of the way had 
not been exaggerated, for it was all we could do to 
reach the beach, on which we had barely traveled 
half a mile when the horses came to a dead stop, 
which delayed us some time, and we concluded the 
only way of making any progress at all was by trav¬ 
eling in the water on the edge of the lake. Even 
there we found the sand so heavy that we had to stop 
every now and then to breathe the horses, which 
made it very tedious traveling. It was 3 o’clock be¬ 
fore we overtook the first wagon that started. The 
family complained of great fatigue, but there was no 
help for it, they could not ride, the single horse was 
completely used up; all our urging could not move 
him. To add to these troubles, the wind and waves 
began to rise, driving us further upon the beach. It 
became evident that a heavy storm was blowing up. 
After a deal of useless trouble and exertion, it was 
decided that the two-horse wagon should proceed 
with the family, until they could find some sheltered 
spot in which to spend the night, leaving two of us 
young men to get the other on as fast as possible, and 
await the return of the team to take them to the stop¬ 
ping place. It was after dark before we rejoined the 
party in the sand hills, where we found supper pre- 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


2S 


pared, and glad enough we all were to sit down to it 
after the labors of the day; but we had hardly tasted 
a mouthful before the threatened storm broke over 
our heads in all its fury. We had barely reached the 
wagons, whither we hastened with what food we 
could snatch up, before the rain fell in torrents, the 
thunder rolled fearfully, and the wind increased 
to a perfect hurricane. The storm continued 
to increase in violence until after midnight, 
the family sitting opposite each other on 
either side of the large wagon listening to 
the war of the elements dhring the long and tedious 
hours of that dreadful night, holding on with tight¬ 
ened grasp to the bows of the wagon cover, expecting 
every minute it would be blown away. Fortunately 
the canvas top was made of stout material, and 
withstood the fury of the blast, but still left them in 
no very enviable position, suffering as they were from 
the fatigue of the previous day’s walk, the cold and 
damp atmosphere surrounding them and the want of 
a good night’s rest. Three young men of us crawled 
for shelter under the cover of the small wagon, closing 
up the front and back as well as we could to prevent 
the driving wind and rain from making a clean sweep 
through it. In the first few hours of the night we 
had the best of it, lying on apileof mattresses, with 
plenty to cover us, but toward morning, when the 
wind was at its height, we suddenly found ourselves 
deluged with rain, the front and back of the cover 
having been carried away, and it was with the great¬ 
est difficulty we again secured it, and sheltered our¬ 
selves from the pitiless storm. 

None who went through the experience of that and 


24 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


the succeeding night will ever forget it. Glad enough 
we all were to welcome the first rays of the coming 
morn; even then the outlook was none of the bright¬ 
est. Fortunately the rain had ceased, but a cold 
north wind continued to blow from the lake, driving 
us up higher and higher on the beach, where the 
horses had to travel fetlock deep in the sand every 
step they took. After partaking of breakfast, cooked 
under the greatest difficulty, as the wood and every¬ 
thing around was saturated with the rain, we again 
started on our journey, but soon came to the conclu¬ 
sion that the old horse, bought in Michigan only ten 
days before, could go no further, so after consulta¬ 
tion it was determined to turn him adrift in the sand 
hills, where I have no doubt he soon became food for 
the wolves. After hauling the heaviest wagon well 
up on the beach, secure from the waves, and filling it 
with all that could possibly be spared out of the 
other wagon, we fastened the covers down and left it, 
fully expecting that half the contents would be stolen; 
but it was necessary to make some sacrifice, as it was 
beginning to be a serious matter how we were to ex¬ 
ist until we reached Mann’s tavern, on the Calumet 
river, over thirty miles distant, as the two horses left 
were pretty well tired out. There was no time to be 
lost, so putting one horse before the other, we pressed 
on, though still having to stop every half hour to rest 
the team. About 9 o’clock four travelers on horse¬ 
back overtook our party. Among the number 
Augustus Garrett and Dr. Egan, for many 3 ^ears after 
well known and prominent citizens of Chicago. They 
told us we could not be over ten miles from Michigan 
City, which greatly discouraged us, as we fully 


13Y AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


25 


expected we were at least twenty, but the continual 
stoppages to which we had been subjected had de¬ 
ceived us as to the distance traveled. 

From this time on we fully made up our minds to 
spend another night on the shore of the lake—not a 
very pleasant prospect, certainly, as it was still very 
cold, and a large amount of bedding and blankets had 
been left behind; but there was no help for it, so we 
walked wearily onward until evening, when, finding 
a sheltered spot in one of the swales among the sand 
hills, we prepared to spend the night there by gather¬ 
ing wood, lighting a fire, and cutting a quantity of 
juniper and fir boughs to cover the ground, on which, 
after partaking of rather a slim supper, we laid down, 
covered with cloaks and what blankets we had, and, 
being completely tired out, really enjoyed a good 
night’s rest under the somewhat novel circumstances 
in which we found ourselves. The poor horses were, 
if possible, in a worse plight than ourselves, as they 
had nothing but the dried wiry grass to eat, afford¬ 
ing very- little nourishment. We were up next morn¬ 
ing with the first dawn of day; and, as we had no 
sumptuous breakfast to cook, our provisions being 
reduced to about half a peck of potatoes, were soon 
prepared to resume our journey, though not with 
very comfortable feelings, knowing that we could 
not taste another mouthful until we had traveled the 
twenty miles intervening between us and the nearest 
house, but we hurried off, hoping almost against 
hope that a friend in Chicago, to whom the head of 
the party had written, while at Michigan City, an 
account of our situation, would get the letter and 
send help, which, fortunately for us, he did, sending a 


26 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


yoke of oxen, driven by a former acquaintance, who 
met us about 11 o’clock. This was a great relief to all, 
as it enabled the female portion of the family to 
crowd into the wagon and ride the remainder of the 
day. Leaving them comfortably provided for, three 
of us young men walked on, arriving at Mann’s tav¬ 
ern, on the banks of the Calumet, soon after dark, 
and no three young men ever felt happier than we did 
to find ourselves again under the shelter of a roof, 
with the prospect before us of a good substantial 
meal. The remainder of the party, with the wagon, 
arrived an hour or so later, and were highly delighted 
to find a good supper prepared for them. The night 
was spent, as many before had been, part sleeping on 
the floor, while others occupied a couple of beds, 
which were fortunately found disengaged. The tav¬ 
ern-keeper was a half Indian, but kept a good house 
of its sort, on the east side of the river, and also ran 
the ferry across the Calumet river. The house was of 
logs, two buildings about 16x20 being put up, leav¬ 
ing a space between of about the same size, which 
being covered with clapboards, like the other build¬ 
ings, and inclosed at the sides, made quite acommodi- 
ous tavern, much better than most of those we had 
stopped at for the last 300 miles of our journey. 

In the morning it was decided that three of us 
young men should start back after the wagon left be¬ 
hind, which we did, though much against our inclina¬ 
tions, taking with us both oxen and horses, carrying 
what provender we needed on their backs. After 
traveling ten or twelve miles on the back track, we 
came to a grove of trees where two men were at work 
building a shanty, stabling, etc., for a new station 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


27 


for the stage company, and not before it was needed, 
for our party dragged one horse off to the woods—a 
victim to hard driving, scant feed and want of care; 
but what could the drivers do, with a route of forty- 
two miles of lake shore, without a house, but put the 
poor brutes through as best they could. That night 
we had to lie on two inches of snow, by way of a 
change, but with our heads protected from the wind 
by boughs stuck in the sand by some other party be¬ 
fore the frost set in, and a good roaring fire at our 
feet, we managed to spend a pretty comfortable 
night. The second day, a little before dark, we found 
the wagon just as it had been left—not a thing 
touched. It was not long before a fire was kindled, 
and slap-jacks made from the flour left in the wagon 
were frying in the pan, which, eaten with the honey 
also left behind, made an excellent supper, enlivened 
as it was with many songs and jovial talk. It took 
two days more to again reach the river, where we 
found the party left at the tavern fully recruited from 
the fatigues of their journey, and anxious to be again 
on the road for Chicago, some 13 miles distant. 

The following day, about 11 o’clock, we left Mann’s 
tavern, and toward evening arrived at the place of 
our destination, where we might reasonably have 
expected to find a comfortable resting place; but it 
was not to be. Every tavern and house was full, 
and we had to wait two or three hours in the cold 
before we could find a roof to shelter us; then a kind 
lady had compassion on us, and took us all into her 
already crowded boarding house, it being only a log 
building about 16x20, where we had again to spread 
our mattresses on the floor. Such was the reception 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCE^ 


28 

of a family in the village of Chicago, and such were 
a few of the hardships and troubles experienced in 
getting here. 

But before describing Chicago as we found it on 
our arrival, I will insert an aricle written by John 
Conant Long, and published in the Journal of March 
2, 1888, in which he describes scenes that took 
place before my time, as he claims to have been here 
in 1831 and ’32. 

How hard it is for us to realize that in the locality 
where there are now so many beautiful and peaceful 
homes, extending from about where Sixteenth street 
now is to Eighteenth, and from Indiana avenue 
to the lake, was the spot where all the fighting took 
place, and that the bodies of the slain remained where 
they fell, unburied for three or four years. Let us 
try and picture to ourselves the scene. Six hundred 
to 800 half-naked savages armed with muskets, 
knives and tomahawks,their dark forms in strong con¬ 
trast to the white smoke of the powder, see them as 
they swarm over the sandjhills or crouch behind them, 
hear their fierce, shrill war-cry above the rattle of the 
musketry. That man with the blackened face is Cap¬ 
tain Wells; he has been fighting the Indians nearly all 
his life, they know him well, and they know that 
blackened face means that he will give no quarter and 
expect none, and that it is to be death or victory to 
him. See him as he urges the little band of white sol¬ 
diers up the bank—how the unskilled savages give 
way before the steady fire and advance of well-dis¬ 
ciplined solders; but as fast as they give way in front, 
they swarm like red demons on the flank and to the 
rear, overwhelming the brave band with more than 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


29 


ten times their numbers; see Captain Wells, as he 
strikes right and left, and single-handed drives five or 
six of the dusky warriors before him, until one cow¬ 
ardly Indian takes advantage of his being engaged in 
front, and creeps up behind him and stabs him in the 
back. But the saddest and most terrible sight of all 
is over there where the baggage wagons were halted. 
See that Indian creeping toward that wagon and the 
children clinging to each other with looks of terror 
on their faces; hear their cries for help and shrieks of 
pain—but enough of this picture. We can turn the 
eye of our imagination to the present and see in the 
place where that terrible massacre occurred many 
grand and stately dwellings and many peaceful and 
happy homes, well-kept grassy lawns in place of those 
blood-stained sandhills, happy children’s faces in 
place of those which were there horribly mangled and 
covered with blood, sweet music where once was only 
heard the fierce war-cry and the sharp, quick tones of 
those instruments the touch of whose keys means 
death. 

Mrs. Heald, the sister of Captain Wells, received six 
wounds, and while she was tying upon the ground 
writhing with pain, she saw an Indian chief strutting 
about with her bridal comb stuck in his hair. When 
the Indians raised her up to carry her away a squaw 
tried to snatch the blanket from her shoulders, but 
she turned quickly and struck the squaw in the face 
with her riding whip. The Indians greatly admired 
her for this act of bravery and perhaps treated her 
with more respect afterwards. 

For four years after the massacre the ruins of the 
fort were practically abandoned and deserted (from 


30 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


1812 to 1816), but in 1816 it was rebuilt under the 
direction of Captain Bradley, and was again occupied 
by United States troops. Nothing of great impor¬ 
tance occurred until 1831. During that year Black 
Hawk, an Indian chief, with a large body of Indians, 
crossed the Mississippi river and advanced up the 
Rock river, moving in a northeasterly direction. This 
created a panic among the defenseless settlers west 
and southwest of the fort. At that time the only 
refuge for them was at Fort Dearborn, and therefore 
during the month of May, 1832, it was a crowded 
caravansary of frightened fugitives numbering about 
500 persons. The few residents of Chicago labored 
to their utmost to feed and shelter this large number. 
Archibald Clybourne, who was the government 
butcher, found it impossible to furnish the necessary 
supplies for such a population, but, fortunately, two 
young men, John and Mark Noble, had gone into the 
stock-raising business, and had ready for killing 150 
head of cattle. They drove them into the enclosure 
of the fort, and thereby averted a meat famine. 

During the following month of July, General Scott 
arrived with a body of troops to reinforce the garri¬ 
son, bringing with him the celebrated Indians Shaw- 
bonee and Billy Caldwell, names often mentioned in 
the early history of Chicago, but General Scott 
brought with him an enemy more to be dreaded than 
the Indians. His soldiers had hardly taken up their 
quarters in the fort before they were, most of them, 
prostrated with that dread disease, the cholera, and 
they died off like sheep; there were hardly enough well 
ones to care for the sick and bury the dead. In fact 
the troops were attacked with this dread disease 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


31 


while they were on the lake steamers en route to Fort 
Dearborn. General Scott said sometime after the 
Mexican war that he had often been in great danger 
and witnessed a great amount of suffering, but he had 
never before felt his helplessness and need of divine 
providence as he did on the lakes and in Fort Dear¬ 
born when that ghostly pestilence,the Asiatic cholera, 
became prevalent among his soldiers. Sentinels were 
of no use in warning them of the enemy’s approach; 
he could not storm his works, fortify against him or 
cut his way out, or make terms of capitulation, and 
there was no respect for the flag of truce. 

As soon as it became known that the dread disease 
was in the fort, the refugees immediately fled from the 
fort, choosing to face the possible danger of the tom¬ 
ahawk and the scalping knife rather than the ghostly 
pestilence. Nearly all of them returned to their homes 
and on the 10th day of July, 1832, Chicago was 
abandoned by the pest-stricken garrison. The agency 
house, or government factory, built just outside of 
the inclosure on the bank of the river, a little south¬ 
west of the present south end of Rush street bridge, 
was used as a hospital. This agency house was an 
old-fashioned log building with hall in the center and 
porches extending the whole length of it. Alexander 
Wolcott, a name very familiar to old settlers, was the 
government Indian agent for a number of years. Till 
1826 he lived across the river with John Kinzie. 
Some time after that year the government established 
in the agency building and in some of the buildings in 
the fort a factory for manufacturing goo Is much 
used by the Indians, and for the further purpose of 
controlling the trade in the vicinity. This factory 


32 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


system was instituted from motives of both philan- 
throphy and expediency, but soon proved to be a 
failure and was abandoned. The second or new fort, 
which was built over the ruins of the old, was occu¬ 
pied continuously by United States troops and used 
for a recruiting station; also as a rendezvous for sol¬ 
diers who were to be sent further west, as well as for 
purposes of defense, until 1837, when it was aban¬ 
doned, the Indians having been removed far to the 
westward. The fort stood until 1856, when the old 
block-house was demolished, no vestige of it remain¬ 
ing, the Chicago fire having destroyed what was left, 
even of the old timbers, which had been used in some 
of the new buildings. It is to be regretted that the 
city government or the Chicago Historical Society 
did not manage in some way to save that old block¬ 
house. The site of the fort is now occupied by a large 
but prosiac building devoted to the sale of groceries. 
The fort as rebuilt consisted of a square stockade, in¬ 
closing barracks or quarters for officers and soldiers, 
magazine, quartermaster and commissary depart¬ 
ments. The northwest and southwest angles were 
defended by bastions or earthworks. The buildings 
were constructed with hewn logs, some of ~them cov¬ 
ered on the outside with oak clapboards. The block¬ 
house, about twenty feet square, was built of solid 
logs, without windows, with the upper part and roof 
projecting beyond the side walls about four feet. I 
remember that all of us small boys, who lived in and 
around the fort, stood in solemn awe of the interior 
of that block-house, and none of us ever dared to pass 
inside. It looked so dark and dismal, we were con¬ 
tented to remain without, spending many hours and 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


33 


ruining many jack-knives digging out the bullets we 
found imbedded in the timbers. On both sides of the 
parade ground, in the center of the fort, fronting east 
and west, were two long two-story buildings with 
porches extending their whole length. The main or 
ground floors of the porches were paved with stone 
and brick, thereby showing that Uncle Sam had an 
eye to durability even as far back as the year 1816. 
The officers’ quarters were located at the north end, 
and the store-house or commissary department, 
guard-house and magazine or block-houses at the 
south end of the barracks. In the center of the parade 
ground was a square post about four feet high, on 
top of which was an old fashioned sun dial. There 
were four gates or main entrances to the fort or 
stockade, located on the east, west, north and south 
sides. 

In 1845 my father was appointed lighthouse keeper 
by President James K. Polk, and we lived in an old 
stone-house adjoining and directly west of the fort, 
the lighthouse being in the same inclosure, both built 
of uncut solid block stone. The lighthouse was cir¬ 
cular in shape and surmounted by a glass dome with 
iron frame, which contained six common oil lamps, 
with reflectors attached, all set in a revolving frame. 
The position of lighthouse keeper in those days was 
considered an important and lucrative government 
office. I think the salary was $1,500 and no chance 
for extra emolument, except that it was understood 
that my father could follow the example of his illus¬ 
trious predecessors, and when he drew the requisitions 
for oil for the lighthouse lamps, he could include 
enough for his own domestic use (or for light house- 


34 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


keeping, so to speak). In those days fat contracts 
and boodlers were unknown. There was another 
smaller lighthouse at the end of the north pier. The 
duty of cleaning, trimming and lighting the lamps in 
both houses devolved part of the time upon my old¬ 
est brother and myself. The lighting and extinguish¬ 
ing of the lamps in the lighthouse at the end of the 
north pier was sometimes attended with great dan¬ 
ger, for during a severe northeast storm, the waves 
would break completely over the pier, and the only 
way in which we could save ourselves from being 
washed into the river, was by clinging to the posts, 
which fortunately for us, were placed at intervals of 
about forty feet along the center of the pier. I 
remember on one or two occasions when the lights 
did not burn through the night by reason of my not 
trimming and filling the lamps properly, I received a 
severe thrashing. So my first efforts to throw light 
upon early Chicago were not unattended with diffi¬ 
culties. 

This account of the fort and its surroundings is 
complete, although very much condensed. 

It also includes the history of Chicago up to 1832, 
because up to that time it consisted of the fort, agency 
houses and only five farm houses or residences. In the 
spring of1833, Chicago had less than 200 inhabitants. 
When it was incorporated as a city, March 4, 1837, 
the population was 4,170. March 4, 1887, just fifty 
years from the date of its incorporation, the census 
and the returns of the city directory canvass showed 
about 800,000 inhabitants, and at the present time, 
if we include the suburbs recently annexed and the 
contiguous and thickly settled portions of Hyde 



BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


35 


Park, Cicero, Town of Lake and Lake View, which 
rightfully belong to the city, we should find at least 
1,000,000 inhabitants, showing an increase in half a 
century unparalleled in history. What a change many 
of us old settlers find from old Fort Dearborn and 
the five frame houses clustered around it, to the pres¬ 
ent grand city, with its large, handsome parks, sub¬ 
stantial public buildings, business blocks, beautiful 
churches, luxurious club-houses, schools and hand¬ 
some private residences! Nothing seems to check the 
city in its mighty progress. There is something in 
the air we breathe, as it comes off the large lake of 
pure, fresh water and the wide, fertile prairies all 
around us, which brings great vitality and energy 
both to the physical body and the body politic. 
Signed by John Conant Long. 

Making the Harbor. —The work of improving the 
Chicago harbor was commenced by the United States 
Goverment in 1833. Previous to this the Chicago 
river made a sharp bend southward, near the present 
depot of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and 
had its outlet into the lake fully half a mile from the 
bend, leaving between the river and the lake a long 
sand bar above water, formed by the action of the 
northeasterly gales. The work of improvement was 
commenced by giving the river a straight outlet by a 
cut through this bar and by constructing a pier on 
the north bank. The direction of this pier was east 
by south, and its length about a thousand feet, be¬ 
ginning nearly at the then shore line. A pier was also 
constructed on the south side of the river, running 
parallel to the pier above mentioned, through which 
at a later date cuts were made by the Illinois Central 


36 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


Railroad Company, forming ship basins in connec¬ 
tion with the other improvements. In 1837 the 
north pier was extended 400 feet, and its direction 
changed to about east by north. This change, how¬ 
ever, proved unfavorable, as a sand-bar soon formed 
in the channel south of the east end of the pier. This 
suggested a return to the direction given to the first 
part of the pier, and in the construction the change 
was made gradually by building the pier in a curve 
to which the preceding pier would be a tangent, and 
ending in the direction desired. This work was done 
in 1838 and 1840, and in 1852 a pier-head was built 
at the outer extremity, to be used as a foundation 
for a lighthouse. The lighthouse, however, was, in 
1859, constructed on piles at a point about fifty feet 
farther north. The depth of water into the harbor 
at that time was about eight feet. The vessels were 
of small dimensions, and this was sufficient for the 
largest. 

It was not until 1848 that Chicago assumed any 
importance at all as a port. Since that time—within 
thirty-five years—the growth has been rapid enough 
and great enough to astonish the whole world. And 
the vast commerce of Chicago today does not yet 
seem to be fully known or appreciated even on the 
American seaboard. Statistics are given further 
along in this review, however, which will convince 
the Atlantic seaports and the seaports of the world 
that Chicago, on Lake Michigan, is now one of the 
greatest ports anywhere. All the statistics given are 
official and will bear the closest scrutiny. 

Even in 1848—the Board of Trade was organized 
in that year—but comparatively few vessels arrived 


BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


37 


and cleared at Chicago. Season after season, how¬ 
ever, this lake trading increased rapidly. 

In 1854 Chicago was considered quite a port, and 
great boasts were made of the “immense quantities ” 
of grain received and shipped here. The shipments 
for a series of years from and including 1854 were 
as follows: 



1854. 

1855. 

1856. 

1857. ! 1858. 

Flour. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Oats. 

Rye. 

111.62 • 

2 3‘>6.9*5 
6,626.051 

3 229,98? 

103,419 
6.298,155 
7.517.625 
1,888,538 

216,389 
8,364,420 
11,129,G< 8 
1,014,037 

259,648 
9.846 052 
6,814 615 
506,778 

470.402 

8.850,257 

7,720.264 

1,519,069 

7.569 

132,020 

Bariev. 

147,811 

93,011 

19,051 

17,993 


In 1858 the capacity of grain elevators (or store¬ 
houses) in Chicago was 4,095,000 bushels. The 
quantity of coal received here by lake that season 
was 76,571 tons; lumber, 278,943,000 feet; wood, 
87,074 cords. 

THE FLEETS IN 1858-59. 

The total number of vessels on the entire chain of 
lakes then was 1,458. Of these, 748, or more than 
half the whole number, plied to and from Chicago. 
About the largest sail vessel coming here then meas¬ 
ured 400 tons. 

In 1859 the tonnage of the lakes was as follows : 

American Craft—No. 1,198; tonnage, 323,156; 
value, $9,811,200. 

Canadian Craft—No. 313; tonnage, 69,663; value, 
$2,305,200. 

The history of Chicago as a port is the history of 
lake navigation generally. Chicago needed large 
vessels. They were built and the general government 
has improved the whole lake-water route so that 

















38 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


they might ply up and down the lakes. As a result 
the cost of transportation has been immensely 
reduced. Instead of vessels of 200 to 400 tons meas¬ 
urement and a rate of 22 to 24 cents per bushel on 
corn to Buffalo, the craft now measures 1,800 and 
2,500 tons, and the rate is 3 to 5 cents. Sail vessels 
are fast disappearing, transportation now being 
carried on by monster steam barges and tows and by 
regular lines of freight steamers. Passenger traffic 
on the lakes has fallen off greatly; the public seem to 
prefer to travel by rail. 

Chicago harbor has 51 miles of dockage, and 
possesses the largest grain elevators in the world. 
In all there are 25 elevators, and their total capacity 
for the storage of grain is 24,625,000 bushels. To 
tow vessels in and out of the harbor and transfer 
them about, it requires the services of 65 steam tugs. 

By comparison of official figures obtained from the 
treasury department, the Inter Ocean discovered 
some time ago that a greater number of vessels 
arrived and cleared at Chicago during a year than 
at the port of New York. The publication caused 
general surprise, and there were and are numerous 
skeptics. It is a fact, nevertheless, and fresh official 
figures just obtained make the showing better than 
ever for Chicago. 

It must beremembered, too, that Chicago is closed 
by ice for three or four months during winter, while 
the seaports have all the year round. 

The following table gives the mumberof craft arriv¬ 
ing and clearing at eight of the principal seaports 
for a year, and the number at Chicago for the same 
time, and it is seen that Chicago’s figures arc greater 
than all these combined: 


HI 

HH 

O 

< 

rH 

RESIDENT OF 1833. 

30 


Arrivals. 

Clearances. 

Total. 

Baltimore. 


3,012 

5,258 

Boston and Charleston. 

.3,963 

4,189 

3,152 

New Orleans. 

.1,075 

1,135 

2,210 

Philadelphia. 

.2,178 

2,437 

4,615 

Portland and Falmouth. 

. 847 

838 

1,685 

San Francisco. 

.1,117 

1,270 

2,387 

Grand Total arrivals and clearances. 


....24,307 

Chicago, total arrivals and clearances... 


.. .26,027 

Now compare New 

York, New Orleans, Portland 

and Falmouth, and San Francisco 

, all combined: 


Arrivals. 

Clearances. 

Total. 

New York. 


9,923 

18,988 

New Orleans. 

.1,075 

1,135 

2,210 

Portland & Falmouth. 

. 845 

838 

1,685 

San Francisco. 

..1,117 

1,270 

2,387 


Grand total arrivals and clearances.25,270 

Chicago, total arrivals and clearances.26,027 


COMPARE THE FIGURES. 

Below are given the receipts and shipments of some 
of the leading products and commodities in Chicago 
by lake the past season (1883). A comparison of 
these figures with those above will indicate clearly 
the growth of Chicago’s lake commerce since 1854. 


Lumber received, feet. 1,710,130,000 

Shingles received, No. 1,114,617,000 

Lath received, No. 52,350,000 

Grain shipped, bu. 63,091,607 

Flour shipped, brls. 775,523 

Flaxseed shipped, bu . 1,624,597 

Timothy seed shipped, bu. 252,800 

Coal received, tons. 919,700 

Iron ore received, tons. 64,689 

Pig iron received, tons. 22,210 

Salt received in sacks. 62,883 

Salt received in brls. 175,449 






























40 


EARLY CHICAGO REMINISCENCES 


Salt received in bulk, tons. 14,724 

Pork shipped, brls. 60,068 

Lard shipped, tcs. 77,707 

Beef shipped, brls. S',872 


The several lines of propellers from Buffalo and 
other lower lake ports brought up several hundred 
thousand tons of merchandise, but no record is kept. 

The number of vessels arriving and clearing at 
Chicago during the past season was 26,027. 

The following table, showing the arrivals and 
clearences of vessels in Chicago for a series of years 
—since 1861—speaks for itself. Chicago made a great 
stridein 1862, and with few exceptional seasons, has 
steadily gained ever since. 


,■-Arrivals- n ,-Clearances-\ 


Year. 

No. 

Tonnage. 

No. 

Tonnage. 

1862. 

. 7,417 

1,931,692 

7,270 

1,915,554 

1863. 

. 8,678 

2,172,611 

8,457 

2,161,221 

1864. 

. 8,938 

2,172,866 

8,224 

2,166,004 

1865. 

.10,112 

2,106,859 

10,067 

2,092,276 

1866. 

.11,084 

2,258,527 

11,115 

2,361,529* 

1867. 

.12,230 

2,588,272 

12,140 

2,512,676 

1868. 

.13,174 

2,984,591 

13,225 

3,020,812 

1869. 

.13,730 

3,123,400 

13,872 

3,149,916 

1870. 

.12,739 

3,049,265 

12,438 

3,983,912 

1871. 

.12,230 

3,096,101 

12,312 

3,082,235 

1872. 

.12,824 

3,059,752 

12,531 

3,017,790 

1873. 

.11,858 

3,225,911 

11,876 

3,338,803 

1874. 

.10,827 

3,195,633 

10,720 

3,134,078 

1875. 

.10,488 

3,122,004 

10,607 

3,157,051 

1876. 

. 9,621 

3,089,072 

9,628 

3,078,264 

1877. 

.10,233 

3,274,332 

10,284 

3,311,083 

1878. 

.10,490 

3,608,534 

10,494 

3,631,139 

1879. 

.11,859 

3,887,095 

12,014 

3,870,300 

1880. 

.13,218 

4,616,969 

13,302 

4,537,382 

1881. 


4,533,558 

12,957 

4,228,689 

1882. 

.13,307 

4,849,950 

13,626 

4,904,999 




























BY AN OLD RESIDENT OF 1833. 


41 


There are fleets of craft on the lakes no w measuring 
over 2,000 tons each, custom house measurement, 
and which carry at a single cargo from 2,000 to 
3,000 tons of freight. Most of these craft ply to and 
from Chicago. Some of them take out 110,000 
bushels of corn or 140,000 bushels of oats at a single 
cargo. There is a depth of 18 to 20 feet of water 
into the harbor, and it is all needed for the monster 
craft which come and go. The American lake ship¬ 
ping is estimated now at a value of $150,000,000 
and a large half of it “trades” to Chicago, bringing 
in coal, iron, salt, merchandise, etc., and taking 
away cargoes of grain, etc. 


42 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


III. 

As before stated, we came from Buffalo by team, 
and, on leaving the lake shore and rounding the point 
of woods about Thirty-first street, we found our¬ 
selves, for the first time, on a wide expanse of level 
prairie, bounded on the west by a belt of timber 
which lined the banks of the south branch of the river, 
a mile or two distant. Three or four miles to the 
north of the point where we stood lay the village of 
Chicago, stretching from the lake some half mile or 
more to the west, along the bank of the river, the 
white houses and stores, together with the buildings 
and fence of the garrison grounds, giving it quite a 
pleasant and cheerful appearance under the genial 
rays of the wintry sun, especially as seen after the 
storm and tedious journey of the previous few days. 
The grass looked brown, for it was long enough to 
hide from view the slight sprinkling of snow that had 
fallen a few days before, but the ground was frozen 
solid, though yet in October. There was but one 
building between us and the village, and that was a 
log barn, standing about Twentieth street. To the 
east of us was the beautiful lake, on the bosom of 
which we could now and then, between the hills of 
sand that lined its bank, catch sight of two schoon¬ 
ers that lay at anchor half or three-quarters of a mile 
from land, lazily rising and falling with the swell of 
the waves as they rolled into shore from the effect of 
the late northeaster. Again turning our eyes land¬ 
ward, as we slowly walked beside a yoke of plodding 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 43 


oxen, which a kind friend had sent to meet us and 
help our weary horses over the sandy beach from 
Michigan City, we gazed upon the scene before us. 
Wondering if the place would answer the glowing 
description we had heard of it and realize our expec¬ 
tations, we kept the beaten track to about Adams 
street, where we turned directly westward across the 
prairie in the direction of the bridge thrown across 
the river between Randolph and Lake streets, but 
changed our course about Clark street, where we 
turned north and made for the center of the village, 
between Franklin and LaSalle streets, near the river. 
Here we had to wait an hour or two until we could 
find some place in which to spend the night. We at 
last found shelter under the roof of a log boarding 
house, kept by a Mrs. Brown, as, I think, I stated in 
a former letter. While waiting around that after¬ 
noon, we had ample time to make a few notes of our 
surroundings. What few buildings there were on the 
south side, were built on the prairie, about a hundred 
feet from the river, with an Indian trail, deeply in¬ 
dented in the soil, running close to it along its bank. 
There was no road or street thrown up, but the 
houses and stores were scattered here and there from 
about State street, on the east, to the forks of the 
river westward. On the west side were several build¬ 
ings, on the north side, east of Dearborn street, was 
also a cluster of small houses. From Dearborn street 
west, the north side was one dense forest, with the 
exception of a couple of log buildings and a house and 
barn, situated on the point made by a north branch 
as it emptied into the main stream, where Judge 
Harmon resided. 


44 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


Such was the general aspect of the place as seen 
from the spot where we stood, near Franklin street. 
The building that attracted most of our attention 
that evening, as it was near to us, and had five or six 
windows on the side fronting on Franklin street, was 
the meeting house, probably about 16x24 owned, so 
we afterwards found, by the Baptists, but then used, 
being the only one in the village, by the Presbyterians 
and Methodists as well. It was a common frame 
building, void of paint or other outside adornment. 
The fitting up inside was of the most primitive char¬ 
acter. The seats were made of common, planed 
boards, without any backs, if I remember 
right. The reading desk, on a platform 
slightly raised, was of the same rough ma¬ 
terial, but the Gospel was preached there weekly, in 
all its purity, by three as good men as could be found 
in the pulpit of the present day, the Rev. Mr. Free¬ 
man, the Baptist, who preached in the morning, and 
soon left this world, I trust for a better; the Rev. 
Jeremiah Porter, still living among us, who preached 
in the afternoon; and Rev. Henry Whitehead, then a 
resident of the city, but since deceased, in the evening. 
The singing was led, such as it was, by a sergeant 
from the garrison, who usually sang “Old Hundred,” 
or some such tune, with a nasal twang that was 
dreadful to listen to. The congregation generally 
averaged about thirty to thirt 3 ^-five. The house in 
the afternoon was pretty well filled with children at¬ 
tending Sunday school. 

The Rev. Mr. Porter, in his speech at the unveiling 
of the tablet, said the first Sunday school in the vil¬ 
lage was commenced by Maj. Wilcox in the garrison, 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 45 


but Mrs. Charles Taylor informs me that she com¬ 
menced the first Sunday school in their log house on 
Wolf Point, or West Water street, where she dwelt as 
early as 1832, having five or six scholars, two of La 
Framboise’s, an Indian chief, being among them; she 
also says she was the only white woman that staid 
outside the garrison, in the Indian scare of that year, 
when all gathered there to seek protection from the 
Indians who threatened them with capture. 

It was also stated at the same time, by the on. 
John Wentworth, in his speech, that Col. Beaubien 
brought the first piano into the city, whereas it was 
Samuel Brookes who brought it with him from Lon¬ 
don in 1833, and rented it out to the colonel for a 
few months, afterward selling it to him. I don’t 
know as it is of much consequence, but we might as 
well have it correct, as perhaps it was the only one in 
the state at that time. 

Mr. Porter held the evening meetings weekly, in a 
small log building situated on Water street, between 
Dearborn and State streets, used in the day time for 
a school room, and occupied by Miss Chappel and a 
few scholars. Such was the commencement of three 
of the largest denominations in this city of beautiful 
churches. It seems hardly credible that fifty-seven 
years should have made such a change. But it is the 
same with everything. The first private school, as I 
said before, was kept by Miss Chappel, who soon be¬ 
came Mrs. J. Porter, followed afterward in the school 
by Miss Barrow, in the spring, who increased the 
number with a few larger scholars. 

The first public school was, I think, opened on the 
north side, and taught by a Mr. Watkins, in the fall 


46 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


of 1834. A small building on the south side on Dear¬ 
born street was occupied as a public school, in 1835, 
Geo. Davis, one of our party, a well-known character 
in Chicago for years afterward, being the teacher. 
Such was the small beginning of the splendid school 
system of the present day. Who could have thought, 
in their wildest dreams for the future, that such 
splendid structures as we now have, containing their 
thousands of children, would ever have been erected 
on the wet prairie surrounding the village at that 
time. The first brick public school was built on Mad¬ 
ison street, between Dearborn and State, in 1844. 

There were several hotels in Chicago, when we ar¬ 
rived—the Mansion House, near State, on Lake 
street; the Sauganash, on Market, kept that winter 
by Mark Beaubien; Ingersoll’s on West Water street 
then known as Wolf Point, facing the main river,—a 
log building with a piazza in front of it; and the 
Green Tree Hotel lhat stood until lately on Canal 
street, north of Lake,the building of which was then 
not quite finished. These were all filled to overflow¬ 
ing with boarders and travelers, but how many each 
cared for I can not say. Of course the accommoda¬ 
tions for the comfort of their guests were of the 
roughest and most primitive kind—a dirty barroom, 
full of smoke, was all the sitting room provided for 
gentlemen at any rate, whatever they might have 
had for ladies. As for the tables they set—well, I 
suppose they did the best they could, for certainly 
there were few dainties to be purchased that winter 
for love or money, and the appliances for cooking 
were very far from what they now are. In many, a 
pot hung over a wood-fire,a frying pan and a baking 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 47 


pot being about all they had for culinary purposes in 
those days. 

There were several stores. John Wright’s, between 
Dearborn and State streets, was the most easterly. 
Then there were two small stores near the corner of 
Dearborn—one used as a bake-shop and the other as 
a grocery or saloon. Between Dearborn and Clark 
streets were several buildings used as stores and 
dwelling houses. Medore Beaubien had a store just 
west of Dearborn. Then came two or three dwell¬ 
ings, and then the stores keptbyPruyne & Kimberly, 
C. L. Harmon, and George W. Dole. Still west of 
these were Walter Kimball and P. P. W. Peck, on the 
corner of Da Salle. Philo Carpenter kept a drug store 
in a log building on the river bank. Then John S. C. 
Hogan kept a store and postoffice in an old log build¬ 
ing on the corner of Lake and Water streets. John 
Bates, until lately living in Chicago, was clerking for 
him at that time. I have heard him say he used to 
keep the letters in an old boot-top before we came. 
He was killed by the cars two or three years since. 

But they had got further advanced than that on 
our arrival, as they had a few rough board pigeon¬ 
holes back of the counter, where they used to put the 
few letters or papers that cams to the village. 

Just south of Hogan’s store* on Market street, was 
the Sauganash Hotel, where Mark Beaubien, who died 
in 1882, used to keep tavern and play his violin every 
evening to amuse his guests. Opposite that was the 
bridge across the river. And such a bridge! It was 
built of round logs, cut from the adjoining woods, 
Four logs, framed together, making a square called a 
bent, one end of which was sunk in the river, leaving 


48 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


the top of it about three feet above the surface of the 
water. There were two of these sunk in the middle 
ofthe stream, about thirty feet apart. Then straight, 
round logs were thrown from the bank of the river, 
from either side, on to these bents, others crossed 
from bent to bent, and small trees, about six inches 
in diameter and ten feet long, were laid transversely 
on the logs, making the roadway. These were 
thrown on loose—no spike or pin being used. There 
were no rails on the sides, and as it shook and trem¬ 
bled under every team that crossed over, it was not 
surprising that once in a while a span of horses should 
jump into the river. I saw one myself that winter—a 
splendid team, just driven in from Detroit, and the 
best in the city—plunge into the river and drown be¬ 
fore we could help them. The only wonder was that 
the four-horse stage wagon managed to get safely 
over so many times. 

After crossing the bridge, at the corner of West 
Lake and West Water streets, Bob Kinzie as he was 
farmiliarly called, kept the largest store in town, 
though chiefly filled with goods for the Indian trade. 
There were besides Kinzie’s on the west side, some 
three or four small groceries, where liquor was re¬ 
tailed. 

On the north side, east of Dearborn street, there 
were two or three small stores and groceries, and 
several houses on North Water street, a small brick 
house near North State street being then the only one 
in the village. That belonged to Charles Chapman, 
a notorious character in those days. East of Rush 
street, on the river bank, was a building occupied by 
Newberry & Dole, who did the forwarding business 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 49 


of the place in a couple of large covered wagons that 
made continual trips to Galena, which was then a 
flourishing town near the Mississippi, and doing quite 
an extensive business with the miners. 

Such was the Chicago of those days. You can 
fancy how many houses it would take to accommo¬ 
date about 300 people, when half of them boarded in 
the taverns and boarding houses, and the other half 
were crowded into small dwellings and rooms over 
the stores. Still east of the warehouse was a white¬ 
washed log house, with a row of poplar trees before 
it,—the former residence of John Kinzie, whose son 
was at this time living in a spacious log house front¬ 
ing the river on the north side, about State street. 
Beyond, and still further to the east, were to be seen 
the beautiful waters of Lake Michigan, the shores of 
which were not then disfigured by either buildings or 
piers. But it did not long remain so, as the coming 
winter saw the laborers, with the accustomed shan¬ 
ties, occupying the sandy beach on the north side of 
the river, where they were soon busily at work “for 
the government, constructing the harbor and turning 
the course of the river into its present channel. 

To the south of the village was an almost intermi¬ 
nable prairie said to be 300 miles in length, with only 
one belt of timber to break the monotony of its level 
surface, reaching, as we w r ere told, to the most south¬ 
ern point of the state, to which you could travel by 
crossing only that one small belt of timber, before 
mentioned—not a quarter of a tnile in width. The 
country immediately around the village was very 
low and wet, the banks of the river not being more 
than three or four feet above the level of the water. 


50 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

More than one-third of the river was covered with 
wild rice,- leaving but a small stream in the center. 

Parties informed us that in the spring we should 
find it almost impossible to get around for the mud— 
a truth very forcibly illustrated when a few months 
later I got into a wagon to go about a mile and a 
half northwest, to a house Daniel Elston was build¬ 
ing on the west side of the river. It was with the 
greatest difficulty that two good horses could pull 
the empty wagon through the two feet of mud and 
water across the prairie we had to pass. I once 
heard Mr. Elston’s place called “the mud farm” not 
an inappropriate name for it at that time. A year or 
two later I saw many teams stuck fast in the streets 
of the village. I remember once a stage coach got 
mired on Clark street, opposite the present Sherman 
House, where it remained several days with a board 
driven in the mud at the side of it bearing this in¬ 
scription: “No bottom here.” I once saw a lady 
stuck in the mud in the middle of Randolph street at 
the crossing of La Salle. She was evidently in need of 
help, as every time she moved she sank deeper and 
deeper. An old gentleman from the country, seeing 
the situation, offered to help her, which had such an 
effect upon her modesty that with one desperate effort 
she drew her feet out minus her shoes, which were 
afterward found over a foot deep in the mire, and 
reached the sidewalk in her stockings. I could tell 
innumerable tales of the dreadfully muddy roads we 
had to encounter, but a few such will suffice. 

In 1838 or ’39, the only way two of ourmostfasli- 
ionable young ladies from the north side could get to 
the Presbyterian church on Clark street, near Lake, 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1S33 TO 1892. 51 


was by riding in a cart, with robes thrown on 
the bottom, on which they sat. I once saw those 
same ladies dumped on the sidewalk in front of the 
church, through the negligence of their driver in not 
putting in the bolt. Another story,told in a lecture 
given by Jas. A. Marshall, js rather more than I can 
vouch for. It was this: That our minister,who was 
then a young bachelor, in walking home with a 
young lady from Wednesday evening meeting, got 
into a slough, and in their endeavors to extricate 
themselves kept sinking deeper and deeper, until they 
were more than waist-deep in mud aud water, and 
that it was only from their screaming for help that 
assistance came, and saved them from a muddy and 
watery grave. I know of no slough that was deep 
enough for that, except one running south from the 
river about State street, gradually lessening to about 
Adams street. There was a very wet spot, or 
slough on Clark street, south of Washington. The 
village trustees, wishing to drain it, and having no 
funds on hand, applied to Strachan & Scott, the first 
brokers that came here, for a loan of $60. But the 
wary Scotchmen refused to let them have it, unless E. 
B. Williams endorsed it, which he did. This was 
probably the first loan made by the city of Chicago. 
Compare it with the millions she has borrowed since; 
what a contrast! 

Before leaving the subject, I must say a few words 
respecting the early efforts of our city fathers to 
effectually drain the village. As I have said before, 
Chicago was very low and exceedingly wet. The 
first effort made was on Lake street, where, after 
mature deliberation, our village solons passed an or- 


52 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

dinance for the digging out of the street to the depth 
of three feet,—a little the deeper in the center. This 
naturally drained the lots contiguous to it; and, on 
being covered with long, heavy plank, or timber, run¬ 
ning from the sidewalk to the center of the roadway, 
for a few months after it was finished made a very 
good street. But it was soon found that heavy 
teams going over it worked the timbers into the mud; 
and it was consequently spuash, squash, until at last, 
in wet weather, the mud would splash up into the 
horses faces, and the plan was condemned as a fail¬ 
ure. It was tried two or three years, when the 
planks were removed, and it was filled up two or 
three feet above the original surface. This was found 
to work better, as it naturally would, and the same 
system of filling up has been continued from time to 
time, until some of the streets are five or six feet 
above the original surface of the prairie. The filling 
up answered a double purpose; as it not only made 
better roads, but it enabled the owners of the adjoin¬ 
ing lots to have good cellars without going much be¬ 
low the level of the prairie, thus getting a drainage 
into the river. The first year or two we were here, 
there was not a cellar in Chicago. A good joke was 
told about the first brick Tremont House that was 
put up. Of course it was at first built to the grade 
of that period; but as the grade was every now and 
then established higher and still higher, it at last left 
the hotel three or four feet below the surface of the 
road in front of it, and steps were built around it 
both on Lake and Dearborn streets for the conven¬ 
ience of persons going there or passing along the 
sidewalk. A wag of a fellow, from New Orleans, 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 53 


while visiting here, wrote back to his paper that they 
need not talk any more about the low lands of New 
Orleans, for Chicago had got a brick-hotel five stories 
high that was so heavy that it had sank into the soft 
soil several feet, and had forced the ground up into 
the street around it. I must say it had that 
appearance. The building was afterwards raised eight 
feet, bringing it up to the grade, and making cellars 
and basement underneath. It was the first brick 
building ever raised in Chicago, and the raising was 
done at a cost to the proprietors, Ira and James 
Couch, of some $45,000. The contractor, I think, 
came from Boston, and many were the prophecies 
that the building would fall down during the process. 
But it was raised without the breaking of a pane of 
glass, although it was 160x180 feet. After the suc¬ 
cess attending the raising of the Tremont, many 
others were raised to grade, and at last one-half of a 
block of heavy buildings on Lake street were success¬ 
fully raised. It took 5,000 screws and 500 men to 
accomplish it. 

The North Side, between the river and north 
State street, was very wet,—the water lay six to 
nine inches deep the year round,—and on the West 
Side, for ten miles out, the water lay in places two 
feet deep, and in wet weather the whole surface 
was covered with water, with the exception of the 
two ridges between the city and the Desplaines 
river. I built, in the fall of ’36, on the corner of 
Washington and Jefferson streets, and many a time 
had to wade ankle-deep in water to get there, before 
I cut a ditch to the river to drain it. On taking a 
trip to the northwest, in the spring of ’35, the water 


54 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


was so deep a little north of Fullerton avenue, on tlie 
Milwaukee road, that it came into the wagon-box 
several times before we reached the ridge at Jefferson. 
In going out to a convention, June 1, 1840, there 
was so much water on the prarie west of the city 
that it took us nearly the whole day to reach Doty’s 
Hotel, on the ridge about ten miles west of the Court 
House. We were of course traveling in wagons as 
that was long before the era of railroads. But I 
have said enough to show the soil of Chicago and 
surrounding country. It certainly was decidedly 
a very low and wet spot on which to build a city, 
the only wonder is that it has become the magnificent 
city we boast of at the present day with such 
splendid blocks of buildings equal in elegance, size and 
durability to any to be found either in London or 
Paris, in 1874. We had hardly been here a week, 
when a neighbor’s calf dying the wolves came after it, 
making night hideous with their howling, so we set 
a trap for them and caught one by the hind leg. 
With a little trouble we got him into a sack and 
carried him over the river on the corner of State and 
Adams streets on the prairie where we set the dogs 
after him. He made fast time for the woods on the 
South branch, but the greyhound, with his superior 
speed, soon caught him, and, biting his haunch 
brought him to bay, when the foxhound, coming up, 
took hold of him by the nejck, and never gave up the 
fight until she laid him dead at our feet. The grey¬ 
hound, getting his jaw locked with the wolf’s, wanted 
no more of it, but stood calmly by while the other 
killed him. 

This was my first affair with wolves. They were 


History or Chicago from 1833 to 1892. 55 


then very numerous. In crossing from Clark street 
to Clybourn bridge, through the woods, one time, I 
saw five of them devouring the remains of a cow. 
They looked so savage that, having no gun with me 
I thought discretion the better part of valor, and 
made considerable of a detour to avoid them, though 
I never heard of them attacking any person. I often 
came across three or four on the road between 
Elston’s and Lake Street bridge, sitting in the road, 
baying the moon. 

The officers of the garrison, having nothing much to 
do, used to kill large numbers of them. They met 
every Wednesday, with others, on horseback, and 
eight or ten dogs with them, in front of the old 
Sauganash, on Market street, then kept by Mark 
Beaubien, who up to the time of his death was seen 
at times, playing the same old fiddle with which he 
used to electrify and amuse his patrons in the bar¬ 
room, fifty-six or seven years before. Here they 
organized for the day’s hunt, and often killed five or 
six wolves before night. 

Once, when I was coming down in the stage from 
Milwaukee, the snow being ver}^ deep and the 
sleighing excellent, as it had been for some weeks,— 
so much so that Frink & Walker’s stage horses had 
grown fat and frisky, and consequently were in good 
running order,—there happened to be no one in the 
sleigh but myself, and the driver was hardly able to 
control his spirited team. When about six miles 
from town we saw a large wolf making his tedious 
way through the deep snow, evidently pretty well 
tired out. He came into the track a short distance 
ahead of us, and laid down. I suggested to the 


56 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


driver that we might have a first-rate wolf-hunt, as 
I knew, after his late experience, he would keep to 
the smooth track as long as he could, and, when he 
turned out, I was to jump off and kill him with an 
ax-handle, a dozen of which happened to be in the 
sleigh. The horses soon increased their speed, seem¬ 
ing to enjoy it as much as ourselves, and got into a 
full gallop after the wolf, who ran them a splendid 
race for a couple of miles, when he turned out of the 
road into the deep snow and I, in the excitement of 
the chase forgetting the great speed at which we 
were going, according to the program jumped from 
the sleigh and rolled over and over in two feet of 
snow. When I recovered myself, the stage was half 
a mile ahead and the wolf, fifty feet behind me, lay 
panting on the prarie. When I began to approach 
him, he showed such a splendid row of teeth in his 
jaws, and snapped them in such a significant manner, 
that I thought I might as well leave him, as evening 
was coming on, and I had to walk two or three miles 
to the nearest house. The horses had got past all 
control, and never stopped until they reached 
Powell’s Tavern, their usual watering-place, about 
two and one-half miles from the village. The driver, 
however, put them on the back track to meet me,— 
expecting he said, to find me skinning the wolf; but 
in that he was mistaken. 

So much for wolf-hunting and wolves. I presume 
I shall never see another, except some poor 
imprisoned thing in an iron cage or in the parks. 

As for that bear story Mr. Wilson told about, it is 
actually true insofar as taking a large bear out of 
the lake, five or six miles northeast of Waukegan. 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1893. 57 

I was going up to Milwaukee at that time, in one of 
the large steamers, and was sitting reading in the 
cabin, when the Captain rushed in,evidently very much 
excited, snatched his glass from the table, and, in 
answer to my inquiry of what was the matter, said 
there was something in the lake about two miles 
ahead, and they could not make out what it was. 
Of course my book was dropped in a moment, and I 
hastened after the Captain to the bow of the boat, 
where I found most of the few passengers on board 
anxiously trying to make out this strange object. 
The Captain, after examination by his glass, first 
said it was a horse, then a deer, and, on getting 
nearer, declared it to be a bear, and decided at once 
that he would catch him at all hazard, and, calling 
for volunteers, found no want of men willing to un¬ 
dertake the task. So the small boat was lowered, 
with four stalwart sailors at the oars, the mate at 
the helm, and a man at the bow, with a rope, in 
which he made a slip-noose. They started for poor 
Bruin, who, when he found they were after him, made 
most excellent time for the middle of the lake, and 
for a mile or two led them a splendid race before 
they came up with him. After two or three at¬ 
tempts, the man at the bow threw the fatal noose 
over his head. Directly the bear found he was caught, 
he turned and made for the boat, evidently intending 
to carry the war into the enemy’s camp; but they 
were too quick for him, evidently not liking the idea 
of having him for a passenger. So they turned and 
rowed for the steamer with all their might. This 
brought poor Bruin’s nose under the water, and by 
the time they reached the steamboat, which had 


58 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


been following pretty close in the wake of the pur¬ 
suers, he was almost drowned. The rope was thrown 
to us on deck, on to which we soon hauled him, and 
then held a council-of-war as to what should be done 
with him. It was at first suggested that he should 
be chained up, and a large chain was brought and 
put round his neck. Then some ladies came to look 
at him, and exclaimed, “Oh, the horrid great creature! 
do kill him!” Some person standing by put his hand 
on the animal’s heart, and said he was fast recover¬ 
ing, and, if he was not killed, would soon be master 
of the boat. On which a bevy of female and some 
male voices, cried out to the Captain to have him 
killed at once. On a butcher offering to do the job, 
the Captain consented, and the bear was doomed to 
have his throat cut and die an ignominious death 
like any common porker. He was a noble fellow, 
black and tan, seven or eight feet in length, and, when 
he was skinned, showed such claws and muscles the 
volunteers rejoiced that he did not make good his 
entry into the boat, for he would certainly have 
driven them all into the water if they had escaped 
his claws and teeth. 

Now for the fish story told in the Journal: It is a 
fact that I speared an extraordinarily large muska- 
longe about four or five miles up the North Branch 
of the river. “The North Branch of the river!” I 
think I hear some one exclaim; “that horrid, stinking 
cesspool of filth and turbid water! A nice place to 
fish!” But you must remember it was not always 
so. In those early times, in 1833, it was a clear, 
sparkling stream, with quite a strong current, 
especially near the dam, five miles from the city, over 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 59 


which the water rippled and ran, making a soft, 
soothing, murmuring sound heard on that still win¬ 
ter’s night for a considerable time before we reached 
it. With a lantern at the head of the canoe, in which 
we burnt hickory bark stripped from the trees on the 
bank of the river, there was no difficulty in seeing 
the fish at the bottom, even in six feet of water. I 
always supposed that was the largest fish ever taken 
in these waters, and still claim it to be so, notwith¬ 
standing Friend Wilson asserts that Capt. Luther 
Nichols speared one a few pounds heavier than mine. 
The one I caught measured five and one-half feet in 
length and weighed twenty-eight and one-half pounds. 
Dr. John Temple, who then lived on Lake street, 
between Wells and Franklin, being down at the river, 
catching sight of it on the opposite side, took the 
trouble to get a canoe and cross the river to see it, 
remarking that it was the largest he had ever seen, 
and many times after said the same. When I first 
saw it, it had two mates of about the same size, all 
swimming in a row. I thrust the spear into 
the middle of its bod} r ; but it would not hold, 
and slipped off. We immediately dropped down 
the stream, and after replenishing the fire at 
the head of the boat again ascended the river, and 
soon heard the poor creature blowing like a porpoise. 
It was floating with the current with its head out of 
the water, into which I again thrust the spear, 
and after a great struggle, succeeded in dragging 
him into the canoe; even then it floundered about so 
that we were nearly upset, and it took several blows 
of the hatchet on its head before I could quiet it. 

Many times in the spring of ’34 I fished in the 







60 HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


lake with a seine, the garrison-officers used to fur¬ 
nish the men to do the work, and a good boat, and 
we often made famous hauls. 

Perhaps some of our readers would like to know 
what other amusements we had, and how we spent 
our evenings in those early times. Checkers was a 
common game in the stores in the daytime, as well 
as in the evening—as storekeepers had plenty of leis¬ 
ure while waiting for customers. After they shut up 
for the night, cards were brought out pretty exten¬ 
sively—sometimes they had champagne suppers. But 
they used to keep such parties up half the night and 
sometimes paid dear for it in the morning. 

Those religiously inclined went to prayer-meeting 
at least once a week. Then when boarders and 
travelers were satisfied as to the inner man in the old 
Sauganash Hotel, Mark Beaubien would bring out 
his fiddle and play for those who wished to trip the 
light fantastic toe. To be sure, there were no 
theaters, no concert halls, or reading rooms. New 
York papers were twenty or thirty days old when 
we got them, and there were but few books in the 
place. A man came into our house one day, and, 
seeing some shelves full of old books, asked if we 
kept a bookstore. The fact is, that in the winter of 
1833- , 34 amusements of any kind were few * and far 
between, although we made the most of what there 
were. One fine moonlight night, when the ice was 
good, the whole of Chicago turned out for a skate 
and a frolic. There must have been at least a hun¬ 
dred persons on the river between Wells street and 
the Forks. Then we had good sleighing for a short 
time, and you would have laughed to have seen the 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 61 

splendid turnouts improvised from crockery crates 
and sugar hogsheads. There were only two cutters 
in town, but it did not take many tools or much 
time to make something that would glide over the 
frozen snow. A good handy fellow with an ax, 
drawing knife, and augur would go into the woods, 
cut down two straight young saplings, shave off a 
little where they bent up for the thills or shafts, bore 
six or eight holes, into which they drove the stand¬ 
ards a foot high, put cross-pieces on twelve or fif¬ 
teen inches from the ground on which they laid the 
crate, filled that with hay, and the sleigh was ready 
for use in less than half a day. The same plan was 
pursued with the sugar hogshead, only that was cut 
half-way down in front, and a seat put across the 
back in the inside of it, and you had a sleigh which, 
covered with robes, was as warm and as comforta¬ 
ble as the best of cutters. Then the young bloods of 
the town—we used to have such even in those days— 
got up a splendid sleighing parly, I think it was on 
the 1st of January, when they came out with the 
Government yawl-boat on runners, drawn by four 
good horses, and covered with robes, with as many 
bells jingling on the harness as they could find in the 
village, and thus equipped, made the streets ring 
again with their merriment and laughter. Unfortu¬ 
nately for them, they got treated so well wherever 
they called, that by evening they began to feel the 
effects of it, and determined to have a grand spree, 
which ended in smashing up the best saloon in town, 
for which they paid next morning, it was said, with¬ 
out a murmur, the sum of $800. But what was 
that, when they used to say they could lay down a 


62 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

sixpence at the backdoor at night, and it would be a 
dollar in the morning? 

There was very little visiting done among the 
ladies, as they had all they could attend to at home, 
servant girls being very scarce; in fact, the houses 
of those days were not well calculated for company, 
most of them being about 16x20, a story and a-half 
high with a lean-to. The house we lived in that win¬ 
ter, on the corner of Kinzie and Rush streets, was 
about as large as any in town; but unfortunately it 
was not completed, being neither lathed nor plas¬ 
tered, not even sheathed, and we had nothing to 
protect us from the weather when the thermometer 
marked 20 degrees below zero, but rough siding 
nailed on the studs. Fortunately we had warm 
clothing, and would almost roast in front of a huge 
wood-fire in the large chimney, common in those 
days, while our backs were covered with thick cloaks 
to keep from freezing. I actually had my cup freeze 
to the saucer while sitting at the table at breakfast. 
Stoves were not to be had, and cooking was done 
under great disadvantages. Pots were boiled hang¬ 
ing from a hook over the wood-fire, and bread baked 
in a baking pot, with hot wood ashes on the cover 
above, and also underneath it. I wonder what 
ladies would think of such conveniences now, when 
girls turn up their noses, unless they have hot and 
cold water at hand, and stationary tubs to wash in. 
Then the water was brought from the river in pails. 
The most fashionable boarding-house was kept in a 
log-building about 16x24 feet; there forty persons 
daily took their meals,—how many slept there I could 
not say. I know they took in our whole party of 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1802. 63 


sixteen tlie first night in Chicago, besides their regu¬ 
lar boarders, and set the table for breakfast until 
about dinner-time, and dinner till supper-time. 

Chicago in those early days was but a small vil¬ 
lage on the very outskirts of civilized life, with very 
few of the conveniences, and, I may say, none of the 
comforts of life. The furniture in the houses was of 
the most primitive kind,—common wooden chairs 
and a deal table; some even had to put up with 
forms to sit on. Before spring, flour became so 
scarce that $28 a barrel was given for it, and it was 
a favor to get it at that. It was the same with 
other commodities that we now think absolutely 
necessary for our tables. Potatoes were not to be 
had ; butter the same; and we were at last reduced 
to beef, pork and corn-meal. I think the molasses 
did hold out, but corn-meal cakes were generally 
eaten with pork fat. I don’t know what we should 
have done had not navigation opened up early that 
year and permitted the good ship Westward Ho, a 
small craft about eighteen or twenty feet long, the 
only vessel that wintered in the river, to make regular 
trips to St. Jo and bring back a cargo of ten or 
twelve barrels of flour each time. During the winter 
if a stray Hoosier wagon or prairie-schooner, as we 
used to call them, happened to find its way so far 
north, as they sometimes did, with a few crocks of 
butter, dried apples, smoked bacon, hams, etc., the 
whole village would be after the wagon to get hold 
of the precious commodities. The scarcity lasted till 
spring, when, on the 7th of May, we were gladdened 
by the sight of a schooner in the offing, laden with 
flour and provisions from Detroit. She had to lay 




04 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

half a mile from shore, while the three or four Mack¬ 
inaw boats used for that purpose made trips to un¬ 
load her. 

The boats used were made of birch bark, very 
light, and were the only ones that could cross the 
bar at the mouth of the river with any load. Her 
freight was fortunately consigned to an honest man, 
who preferred to sell it at a fair price,—$10 a 
barrel,—although he was offered $25 a barrel for the 
whole cargo. Mr. Dole’s name was known in that 
transaction over the whole country from here to the 
Mississippi for years after. 

From this time the village began gradually to im¬ 
prove. A bridge was built over the river at Dear¬ 
born street, doing away with the necessity of the 
canoe ferry that had been run the season before. The 
number of inhabitants had increased to 700 or 800 
—400 or 500 more than were here the October pre¬ 
vious. I went east in May and returned in the 
following November, when I found a great change 
for the better. There were two quite respectable 
hotels built on Lake street and several stores. The 
first person who ventured to move so far south as 
the corner of LaSale and Lake streets, about 400 
feet apart, was called “the prairie tailor.” The 
Presbyterians, who before had worshipped in asmall, 
rough building, on the corner of Franklin and South 
Water streets, had put up a small church on Clark 
street, near Lake. The ladies began to hold their 
society meetings regularly, and got up a fair that 
was quite a success ; and in the winter of 1834-5, a 
piano that had been brought from London by Mr. 
Brookes, then the only one in the place or in the 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 65 


State, for what I know, was taken from the store 
where it had been since our arrival, and Mrs. B., as¬ 
sisted by George Davis and others, gave several con¬ 
certs, to the great delight and amusement of the 
citizens. What memories cluster around those 
names. George was the life and soul of any company 
he might be in, and there are many old citizens yet 
left in Chicago who will remember his comical songs 
—“The Mogul” arid “ The Blue-Bottle Fly,” for in¬ 
stance—that always used to bring forth rounds of 
applause, while Mrs. B., who accompanied him on 
the piano, played those old-fashioned pieces of mar¬ 
tial music—“The Battle of Prague,” and others— 
that were great favorites with the audience, who 
made the house ring with their plaudits. They have 
both passed away, I trust to a better world, but to 
many of their old friends and descendants still with 
ns, these lines will bring back many pleasant mem¬ 
ories. 

The summer of 1835 brought still greater improve¬ 
ments, as well as a large increase in the number of 
inhabitants. The Lake House, a large, brick hotel, 
was built on the corner of .Kinzie and Rush streets. 
There were also some stores erected on North Water 
street, and a great effort made, unsuccessfully, how¬ 
ever, to carry the trade to the North Side. On South 
Water street, also, several stores had been erected. 
In the winter of 1835 and 1836, weekly dancing 
parties were inaugurated at the Lake House, and 
four-horse sleighs and wagons sent around to collect 
the fair ladies who attended them. The first winter 
here, their were but two unmarried ladies in the vil¬ 
lage of a suitable age, and one of them got married 


66 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


before spring, but in 1835 and ’36 their number had 
largely increased. From this time society seemed to 
take upon itself a more decided form, rising from the 
chaos in which it had before been. In the spring 
of 1836, in May, there was a large gathering of spec¬ 
ulators from the east to attend the Canal sales, and 
Chicago began to be appreciated more than ever. 
The citizen made more money and put on more airs. 
I remember that summer the boarders at the Lake 
House passed a resolution, partly in joke, of course, 
that they would not have any but rich men staying 
there, putting the sum that they were to be worth 
at $10,000. The contrast from that to a rich man 
of the present day is great. From this time the city 
grew rapidly in wealth, numbers, and importance, 
and, as there are many who were residents at that 
time better able to write it up than myself, I will 
conclude this long article, trusting you will pardon 
me for taking up so much space in your valuable 
paper. 

In my last communication to you, I gave my views 
of Chicago and surrounding country as it was in 
1833 and 1834, and I supposed that everybody that 
was acquainted with the place in those early days 
would certainly have agreed with me that it was 
decidedly very low and wet. But Mr. G. S. Hubbard, 
one of our oldest and most respected citizens, says I 
gave a wrong impression in saying that the roads in 
the surrounding country and the streets of the city 
were always bad and impassable. I did not say so, 
but did say that, on our arrival here in the fall of ’33, 
parties told us we would find it a very muddy place 
in the spring. And so we certainly did, and I gave 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 67 


many items corroboratingthose views. But in a dry 
season, in the summer and fall, I admit the roads 
were as level and smooth as could be desired, and the 
only drawback against comfortable traveling was 
the clouds of dust that enveloped us on crossing the 
prairie. But I am now going to give a few reminis¬ 
cences of trips made in those early times to neighbor¬ 
ing places, and also a journey to the east in the 
spring of’34, which I think will perhaps be interest¬ 
ing to some readers, who now ride over the same 
ground with such comfort and ease in Pullman cars 
or splendid steamers. 

The first trip I took was to the east, when the 
common route was by stage-wagon that ran days 
and laid tip nights, taking about five days to 
Detroit. But, preferring water to land, when com¬ 
pelled to ride in that style, I crossed Bake Michigan 
to St. Joseph some sixty miles in a small sail-boat 
called the “Westward Ho,” about eighteen to twenty 
feet in length, that had wintered here, and had made 
weekly trips across the lake during the spring bring¬ 
ing over about ten barrels of flour as her full cargo. 
The forward part of the vessel was decked over for 
about eight feet, in which there were four berths, and 
in one of these the captain ensconced himself as soon 
as we were fairly out in the lake, leaving a man who 
was working his passage to steer. But he knowing 
nothing of steering or navigation, and the wind 
changing a little, he headed her again for Chicago, 
and on arriving outside, at the mouth of the river, 
he called the captain up to take her in, at which he 
was mad enough, swearing he had a great mind to 
throw him overboard. But we headed again for St. 


68 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

Joe, arriving there about seven the next morning. 
Toward evening of the day we left, the captain had 
again taken himself to his berth, leaving me to steer 
through the night, which, fortunate^, was as lovely 
and calm a one as ever was seen in the month of May. 
St. Joe was then like most western villages. Con¬ 
sisting of a tavern, a pretty good one, at which we 
breakfasted, a blacksmith-shop, store, and several 
houses. From there I walked through the woods to 
Niles, distant a little over thirty miles, and situated 
on the river St. Joe. Niles was a little larger, and a 
village of more importance, than St. Joe, as it was on 
the stage-road from Chicago to Detroit. I walked 
over the road the next day about forty miles to 
White-Pigeon Prarie, and from there, tire following 
day, forty-five miles to Coldwater, another village of 
about the same size as those before described. I was 
there overtaken by the stage from Chicago and also 
by a farmer’s wagon, both bound for Detroit. I took 
passage with the latter, but exchanged with a friend 
from Chicago who soon after arrived on horseback, 
and, being weary of his ride, I gladly took his place, 
and rode into Detroit, then a city containing 8,000 
to 10,000 inhabitants. From there I took the 
steamer to Buffalo, which made semi-weekly trips 
between the two cities. 

Buffalo was hardly as much of a city as Detroit, 
although it claimed some 8,000 inhabitants. From 
there I took a little steamer that made daily trips 
down the Niagara river to the falls and landed us on 
the Canadian side, above the Clifton House, which 
was then just built, and was the only hotel on either 
side of the falls, which might then be seen in all their 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 69 


native grandeur, before the hand of man had done 
what it could to destroy its sublimity. From there 
a line of stages run to Niagara, a small village on the 
river a few miles from lake Ontario, from which place 
a steamer crossed the lake to Toronto, my destina¬ 
tion. I stayed there until the following November, 
when I returned to Chicago over the same route, and 
in about the same manner, except that I walked from 
Detroit to Niles. The roads for fifty miles west from 
Detroit were literally impassable; at least twenty 
loaded teams were stuck in the mud and abandoned. 
From Niles I took stage to Chicago; the little vessel 
in which I crossed the lake in the spring having gone 
to the bottom. 

The next trip I took was in the spring of ’35, when 
myself and a friend hired a couple of Indian ponies, 
and, with blankets strapped behind us, started in a 
northwesterly direction to the point of land after¬ 
wards known as Dutchman’s Point about twelve 
miles from the village. Then, stiking an Indian trail 
that led to the Desplaines river, about fifteen miles 
from here, where Allison’s bridge now is, we crossed 
the river on the ice, following the trail on the west 
side of the stream, still in a northerly direction, until 
we arrived at a spot a little west of Waukegan. The 
country through which we traveled was then just as 
nature made it—a beautiful rolling prairie, without 
fence or house to mar the delightful views that from 
time to time came in sight as we rode along. It was 
then not even surveyed by the Government. I must 
make one exception as to fences, however, for old 
Mark Noble had a farm partly fenced in, about six 
miles from the village on the north branch, which 


70 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


was the only fencing seen on our ride of forty miles. 
About thirty miles from the city, in the middle of a 
prairie, a pioneer had just started building a loghouse, 
and there was a shanty some ten miles farther up the 
river to which we were directing our steps, or rather 
guiding our horses. The ostensible reason for our 
trip was to take up a claim. It was the fashion then; 
everybody took up, or made, a claim on 160 acres of 
Government land, on which they could get a pre-emp¬ 
tion, provided they made certain improvements, and, 
like our neighbors, we must of course have our claim, 
though what earthly use it was to be to us, unless 
we were going to turn farmers, I could not say. 
After having a chat with the pioneer before mentioned, 
and getting what directions we could from him 
respecting the location of the shanty where we 
expected to spend the night, and which, if we missed 
it, we should have to spend in the open air, we con¬ 
tinued our journey. But it was not till about ten 
o’clock at night, when we had almost given up in 
dispair, that, by the light of the moon, which just 
then shed its rays on the roof, we, to our great joy, 
descried it, and though it was but about eight by 
ten feet in size, and before our arrival had eight 
occupants—one of them a black man—yet we gladly 
accepted their hospitality, and made a hearty supper 
of fried pork and “ corn dodgers.” We spent the fol¬ 
lowing day selecting our claims, which we duly 
staked off, and future parties left them as we made 
them for more' than a year, until sold. In the fall of 
’35, I drove out west to where the cit} r of Aurora 
now is. The first store was then just building, by 
Livingston & Powers, of Chicago, who opened a 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 71 


branch there, I stopped at Naperville the first night 
out, then quite a nourishing little village, just 
recovered from the Indian scare under Blackhawk. I 
was shown the well where they hid their valuables, 
and a blind mare in the stable, made so by carrying 
two men on her back from there to Chicago—about 
thirty miles. From Naperville to Aurora was about 
twelve miles, across a prairie without the least sign 
of habitation. After delivering my load I drove down 
the river through the woods to where Oswego 
now stands, intending to go to Plainfield, across 
another ten mile prairie, for a load of corn, it being 
very scarce in Chicago, and worth $1.75 a bushel. 
But my horses, feeling elated at having an empty 
wagon behind them, ran away and broke an axle. 
Fortunately, I was near the only dwelling within six 
miles. It was but a shanty, ten or twelve feet square, 
occupied by a man, his wife, and three or four chil¬ 
dren, but he had an axe, and, with his help, we fixed 
the wagon so that I could get along with it. By the 
time that was done it was nearly dark, but, receiving 
directions from him as to the road, with the assur¬ 
ance that I could not possibly lose my way, I started, 
and traveled hour after hour, until, coming to a 
prairie fire, I was enabled to see the time. It was 
between 12 and 1 o’clock. I supposed before that I 
was lost; then I was assured of it. So I gave the 
horses the reins, and let them go their own way. 
About 2 o’clock I was gladdened with the sight of a 
light, and found myself in front of the same tavern at 
Naperville that I had left in the morning. After a 
little rest I made another start in the morning for 


72 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


Plainfield, then about the oldest settlement in the 
country, and got my load of corn. 

In 1836,1 drove up to Milwaukee, when the most of 
the village was on the west side of the river and 
called Kilbourne Town, although they had made a 
beginning to build up the Cream City even at that 
early day. The Milwaukee House, a large frame 
hotel, was just opened, being built on one of the 
highest hills in the city. It has since been lowered 
about fifty feet, to bring it on a level with the rest of 
the town. From my first visit, for twenty years, I 
went there continually, marked its growth, and 
many a time listened to the boasts of its citizens that 
it was going to rival Chicago in its size and growth, 
and did actually contain as many inhabitants as the 
Garden City. The runners from the hotel would go 
on board the eastern boats and tell the passengers 
such tales of the dreadful sickness and daily deaths in 
Chicago, that many a one was frightened and 
deterred from coming here. I was with Capt. Ward 
on the first steamer that ever entered the river, which 
was then filled with numerous mud-banks, on which 
we grounded several times before getting up to where 
the warves now are. The citizens were about crazy 
with delight at seeing the boat enter, and got up 
quite an impromptu glorification. Waukegan (form¬ 
erly called Little Fqrt), some 35 miles north of Chicago 
was not then settled. Kenosha, or Southport as it was 
called, was just laid out, and Root river, on which is 
located the city of Racine, was then crossed about 
three miles from its mouth. In 1842 or ’43 I first 
visited Galena, then quite a city of note, doing a 
larger wholesale business than Chicago. It was the 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 73 


center of the mining district for lead, and was the 
point at which all the shipments were made for the 
south and east, being the distributing point for the 
upper Mississippi and northwest. From there Chi¬ 
cago received its first shipment of clarified sugar, 
bought from an agent of the St. Louis refinery who 
was stationed there. It was only sixty barrels, but 
was the forerunner of an immense trade afterwards 
done with St. Louis, through an agent appointed 
here. In the fall of 1842, I made two trips to St. 
Louis for the purchase of sugar and molasses, being 
the first ever brought into the city direct from the 
south. The route was from here to Peru by stage, 
and from there by boat. The water was very low— 
so much so that there were only two small boats 
running out of about twenty in the trade. The rest 
were stuck on the different sand-bars, some ten or 
twelve being on Beardstownbar. The small boat on 
which I took passage only drew about two feet of 
water. Consequently she continued her trips, but 
was a whole week reaching St. Louis. The deck-hands 
onboard were all slaves, and the way the poor fellows 
were treated was really shameful. After meals in 
the cabin everything was swept off the plates into 
tin pans and then taken below, when the darkies 
would scramble for the contents like so many hogs. At 
Beardstown the boat grounded, and the darkies 
were driven into the water to float a hundred barrels 
of whisky over the bar. When thus lightened, they 
pried her over; and yet, with this wretched treat¬ 
ment, they were the jolliest, merriest set of fellows 
ever seen, singing and playing when they were not at 
work—as if they had not a trouble or care in the 


74 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

world. Just opposite Alton, at the entrance to the 
Mississippi, she struck a snag and nearly sank, but, 
after running ashore, they stuck their jack coats into 
the hole and continued their journey to St. Louis 
as if nothing had happened, reaching the city a few 
hours afterwards without further mishap. A second 
trip I made soon after took over two weeks on the 
river. 

There is one other episode in my early travels 
which I must relate, particularly as it was made 
with others, and was, I think, the first political con¬ 
vention ever attended by Chicagoans. It was the 
Presidential canvas of 1840—the year Harrison, the 
grandfather of the present President, was elected. 
Some seventy of us were nominated to attend a con¬ 
vention to be held at Springfield, a city some 350 
miles south of us, and, as we wished to make a sen¬ 
sation, we determined to get the thing up in style. 
Great preparations were made. We secured fourteen 
of the best teams in town, got new canvas covers 
made for the wagons, and bought four tents. We 
also borrowed the Government yawl—the largest in 
the city—had it rigged up as a two-masted ship, set 
it on the strongest wagon we could find, and had it 
drawn by six splendid gray horses. Thus equipped, 
with four sailors on board, a good band of four men 
and a six-pound cannon to fire occasional salutes, it 
made quite an addition to our cavalcade of fourteen 
wagons, we went off with flying colors, amid the 
cheers and well-wishes of the numerous friends that 
accompanied us a few miles out. Maj.-Gen., then 
Capt. Hunter, was our marshal, and the whole dele¬ 
gation was chosen from the best class of citizens, of 


HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 75 

whom but few, very few, remain; Gurdon S. Hub¬ 
bard, lately deceased, Stephen F. Gale, Thomas B. 
Carter, Robert Freeman, and, Mr. Carter informs 
me, two of the musicians are still living, being all 
we could call to mind. It was in 1840, June 7 , I 
think, that we started, leaving the city between 8 
and 10 o’clock. From the Three-Mile House to the 
ridge, ten miles from town, took us about the whole 
day to accomplish. It was past five o’clock before 
we got our tents pitched. The prairie was covered 
with water, and the wagons would often sink up to 
the axles in mud, making it a most tedious and 
fatiguing journey. But on reaching the tavern, and 
finding an old coon there, with a barrel of hard cider 
on the stoop—emblems of the Whig party—we soon 
made ourselves jovial around the camp-fire, over 
which some of our party were busy cooking supper, 
as it was understood, before starting, that none of 
the party were to go to taverns, but all fare alike 
sleeping under the tents. We were, of course, well 
supplied with buffalo-robes and blankets. These, 
with a little hay under them, made comfortable 
beds. We set a watch in true military style, though 
it was hardly thought necessary, so near to the city. 
We were astir by sunrise next morning, and, after 
partaking of breakfast, started again on our jour¬ 
ney, reaching Joliet, where we again camped for the 
night. During the evening we were visited by a few 
of the citizens, who advised us to put on a strong 
guard during the night, as a party of Irishmen, at 
work on the canal, had detemined to burn our ves¬ 
sel. On receiving this information, we took measures 
at once for its protection. The wagons were placed 


76 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


in a circle, the vessel in the center, and the horses 
corraled in the enclosure. Then we doubled the 
guard, which was relieved every two hours, and, 
thus prepared for any emergency, sought our tents. 
About 12 or 1 o’clock the guard arrested two men, 
found sneaking under the wagons, and held them till 
morning. With that exception we passed a quiet 
night, but in the morning received decisive informa¬ 
tion that we should be attacked in fording the river. 
When all preparations were made for a start, our 
marshal rode along the line, telling those who had 
not already done so, to load their arms, consisting 
of shot-guns and old horse-pistols (revolvers being 
then unknown), but to be sure and not lire until he 
gave the word of command. Fortunately we escaped 
without bloodshed, but it looked very serious for 
about half an hour. When we reached the ford we 
found a party of 200 or 300 men and boys assembled 
to dispute our passage. However, we continued our 
course surrounded by a howling mob, and part of 
the time amid showers of stones thrown from the 
adjoining bluff, until we came to a spot where two 
stores were built—one on either side of the street— 
and there we came to a halt, as they had tied a rope 
from one building to the other, with a red petticoat 
dangling in the midst used by the Democrats to show 
disrespect to Gen. Harrison, whom they called the 
“Old-Woman Candidate.” Seeing us brought to a 
stand, the mob redoubled their shouts and noise 
from their tin horns, kettles, etc. Gen. Hunter, rid¬ 
ing to the front, took in the situation at a glance. 
It was either forward or fight. He chose the former, 
and gave the word of command, knowing it would 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 77 


be at the loss of our masts in the vessel. And sure 
enough, down came the fore-and-aft topmast with a 
crash, inciting the crowd to increased violence, noise 
and tumult. One of the party got so excited that he 
snatched a tin horn from a boy and struck the 
marshal’s horse. When he made a reach for his 
pistols, the fellow made a hasty retreat into his store. 
After pi'oceeding a short distance, we came to an open 
prairie, and a halt was ordered for repairs, it took 
less than half an hour for our sailors to go aloft, 
splice the masts and make all taut again. Then it 
became our turn to hurrah, which we did with a will, 
and were molested no further. But the delegation 
that were going to join us from the village, being 
deterred from fear, were set upon by the mob and 
pelted out of town with rotten eggs. This was 
Democracy in ’40—we were Whigs. From that time 
forward we had no further trouble from our 
opponents. In fact, the farmers along our route 
treated us with the greatest hospitality and kind¬ 
ness. One in particular, I remember, met us with a 
number of hams, bread, etc., in his wagon, and, when 
we arrived at his home, said, ‘‘Now, boys, just help 
yourselves to anything you want; there is plenty of 
corn in the crib, potatoes in the cellar, and two or 
three fat sheep in the flock,” which he had killed for 
us. In the morning he escorted us on our journey 
some miles with twenty or thirty of his neighbors. 
In fact, with the exception before mentioned, we met 
with nothing but kindness the whole of our trip. It 
took us about seven days to reach Springfield, where 
we met some 20,000 fellow-citizens from the central 
and southern portions of the State. There was one 


78 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

part of the procession that I shall never forget. It 
was a log-house, some twelve by sixteen feet, built on 
an immense truck, the wheels made of solid wood cut 
from a large tree. This was drawn by thirty yoke of 
oxen. A couple of coons were playing in the branches 
of a hickory tree at one corner of the house, and a 
barrel of hard cider stood by the door, with the 
latcli-string hanging out. These were all emblems of 
the party in that year’s canvass. With the above 
exception, Chicago took the lead in everything. 
What with the vessel—a wonder of wonders to the 
southerners, who had never seen, or perhaps heard 
of, a sailing-vessel before—the natty tents fixed up 
with buffalo-skin seats, interspersed with blue and 
red blankets, and festooned with the National flag and 
bunting, made such a display that the young ladies of 
the city paid us a deal of attention, making numer¬ 
ous visits, and during the early part of the evening 
complimented us with a seranade, which we returned 
later. One person, a Mr. Baker threw open his house 
after midnight, and entertained us in good style with 
cake and wine. We stayed two or three days, 
making many friends, and enjoyed ourselves greatly. 
But there was six or seven days’travel to reach home 
again, which was not so pleasant. We were delayed 
by two public dinners on our route back—one given 
at Bloomington by a right jolly lady, who made a 
capital speech. We returned by way of Fox river, 
avoiding Joliet, traveling through Oswego, Aurora 
and Naperville, and, though enjoying our three 
weeks’ trip very much, were glad to meet a large 
number of citizens to escort us again to our homes 
in Chicago. Such was a convention in old times. 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 79 


What a change fifty years has brought about! By 
rail now, the journey would take one night, a day or 
two spent in Springfield, and by night home again in 
luxurious sleeping cars. 

I will now give you some description of the state 
of society in those early days. The elite of the place 
were the officers of the garrison and their families, at 
least they thought so, and rightly, perhaps, as they 
had been well educated, and had, since the closing of 
the Black Hawk war in the spring of 1833, leisure 
to enjoy society. During the war, all citizens had 
crowded into the garrison for protection, fearing 
an attack from the Indians, and if they had not had 
timely warning, most likely some of them would 
have lost their scalps. On our route to the city 
we met Governor Porter and retinue, of Michigan, 
on their return from signing the treaty, just made 
with Black Hawk, the dusky warrior before men¬ 
tioned. These gentry and officers, whose time often 
hung heavy on their hands, used to spend a portion 
of it hunting the wolves, then very numerous around 
Chicago. They killed about 150 that winter, and 
as we had a fine fox-hound, they soon made our 
acquaintance, and used her often in their hunting 
excursions. In the spring a seine brought over by 
one of our party from England, added still further 
to their amusement and our acquaintance, the sol¬ 
diers aiding us in hauling the net, as the government 
yawl was the only boat in the village suitable for 
that purpose. We got all the fish we wanted by 
this arrangement. That winter there were only 
two or three young ladies in the village, one of them 
being the daughter of Major Green, one of the officers 


80 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

of the garrison. Our family soon got acquainted 
with them, but there was little visiting clone. 
Housekeepers had enough to do to look after their own 
homes, as few kept servants. There were no concerts, 
no lectures to go to, consequently the male portion of 
the community amused themselves as best they could 
in the stores, playing checkers, etc., as before stated, 
and now and then getting up sleighing parties. 
There was at that time not a carriage or buggy 
kept in the place. 

Before going further in our descriptions, let us 
compare the embryo city of that time, then only 560 
acres in extent, with the beautiful, elegant and 
business-like metropolis of the present day, covering 
some 2,500 or 3,000 acres of land, and known the 
world over as Chicago, of which its citizens may 
well be proud. In the first place, the land on which 
it stands was then a low, marshy prairie, with the 
water standing on portions of it the year round. 
To get to it from the country either north, south 
or west, horses would get knee-deep in mud and 
water. As late as June, 1840, it took a party of us 
all day to go about ten miles across the prairie to 
the ridge this side of Riverside. But now the city 
and country adjoining is comparatively dry, being 
well drained, so that we can have good cellars, and 
first rate streets when paved. When I first saw the 
river it was a paltry little stream, nearly covered 
with wild rice, and the land on either bank was of 
little worth, when now it would trouble any one to 
estimate the value of the buildings, piles of lumber 
and wharves that line its banks for miles, to say 
nothing of the value of the river itself, for the 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 81 

purposes of navigation. What a change has time 
wrought! Fifty-five years since, the stores and 
dwellings in the village were counted by tens, the 
largest being only a story and a half high, consisting 
of a slight frame building. Now they are counted 
by thousands, built of solid stone and brick, and not 
a few latterly are being constructed entirely of heavy 
steel, rivetted together, with terra cotta partitions 
and ceilings, built eight, ten, twelve and even fifteen 
stories in height, that cannot be surpassed in 
strength, beauty and elegance of finish the world 
over. In a little more than half a century the popu¬ 
lation has increased from a few hundred to over 
twelve hundred thousand inhabitants, making our 
city the third largest in the United States; and as to 
business, it is increasing so rapidh^ that it will soon 
be the second. In those early times we all had to 
walk. There was no convenience, for riding, not a 
carriage or vehicle of any kind kept for pleasure in 
the place. There were two covered wagons without 
springs, called stages, that made semi-weekly trips to 
Detroit in the east, and Galena in the west. Now 
there are thousands of splendid carriages and turn¬ 
outs of all descriptions kept in the city, and cable 
and steam railroad cars are noted the world over 
for their size and elegance of finish, the cable cars 
leaving each end of their route every minute, and 
carrying passengers from the center of the city about 
ten miles out in any direction for the small sum of 
five cents, some one hundred thousand people riding 
daily on the South Side alone. And then the splen¬ 
did railway carriages, that arrive and leave daily 
for the east and west, is almost past belief; it must 


82 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

be seen to be credited. Again, in 1833 there was 
hardly a barrel of flour or a bushel of wheat to be 
had in the village for love or money. Now we re¬ 
ceive it by millions of bushels. A short time since, 
over one million bushels of grain arrived in the city 
in one day. Pork and beef packing has also increased 
from three or four hundred slaughtered in 1833, to 
three or four million slaughtered and packed in Chi¬ 
cago in the various packing houses of the city during 
the present season. No cattle or hogs were slaugh¬ 
tered for shipment east until the fall of 1843, when 
parties from New York packed four or five thousand 
head, whereas some days during the past year 
25,000 to 30,000 head of cattle alone have been re¬ 
ceived and shipped east, either alive or dressed, to all 
parts of the United States and Europe. Lumber in 
the winter of 1833 was so scarce it fetched $50 a 
thousand, what little there was to be had in the vil¬ 
lage. Now it is shipped here by vessel by tens of 
millions of feet yearly, and sold to all the surround¬ 
ing country. To build then, we had to cut saplings 
out of the adjoining wood to use for studding, raf¬ 
ters, etc. Now thousands of mechanics find employ¬ 
ment in the city, not only in dressing and preparing 
lumber, but in cutting and dressing stone, and latterly 
casting heavy joists and upright posts of immense 
strength to carry these high buildings being put up 
and also, in casting steel into all manner of elegant 
shapes to decorate the fronts of the magnificent 
stores and dwellings that are being daily erected in 
all parts of the city. Fifty years since, there was 
but one church or meeting-house in the village, and 
that such as before described. Now they can be 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 83 


counted by scores, fitted up in the most sumptuous 
manner, for ease and comfort, surpassing most 
churches of even the old world in elegance of design 
and finish, costing in the aggregate millions to erect 
them. At the early time spoken of, the only school- 
house in the village was a log building some 14 by 
18 feet; whereas at the present time there must be 
over forty or fifty expensive brick buildings, erected 
for the purpose, in each of which, eight hundred to a 
thousand children are taught daily in the most thor¬ 
ough and systematic manner, while our other 
scientific and charitable institutions compare favor¬ 
ably with any other city. The first winter I spent 
here, one solitary little craft, the Westward Ho, was 
the only one in the river, and she was only eighteen 
to twenty feet long. Now our.harbor is filled with 
vessels of all sizes, from the noble steamer of three 
thousand tons burthen, or the three-masted sailing 
vessel, to the smallest tug that plows the river, or 
the trim-rigged yacht that lies in -the basin, the 
arrival of vessels some days being truly marvellous. 
In 1833 there were but a few miles of railroad built 
in America, and not until 1852 did the iron horse 
make his appearance in our midst, when the Michi¬ 
gan Central and Southern Michigan companies 
strove with each other to be the first to reach the city. 
Now we are about the largest railroad center in the 
world, our connecting lines being counted by thou¬ 
sands of miles—3,000 to the west and northwest, 
1,000 to the south, and 1,200 or 1,500 to the east. 
In 1833, as before described, there were but two 
bridges across the river, built of round logs, in the 
most ordinary manner; while today there are sixteen 


84 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


to eighteen built at various points, both of iron and 
wood, by some of the best mechanics in the county, 
spanning our stream from shore to shore, yet turn¬ 
ing on a pivot with such ease, some built latterly 
having steam power attached, that it is rarely a 
vessel is inconvenienced any length of time in pass¬ 
ing through them. In the first winter of my sojourn 
here, a few hundred hogs were killed and hung up in 
the open air on rough poles cut from the adjoining 
woods. At the present time there are several im¬ 
mense packing houses in the city that can each kill 
and pack 5,000 to 6,000 daily, and with the stock 
yards adjoining, are one of the wonders that sur¬ 
prise all visitors to our city, and are really in their 
magnitude and extent well worth the seeing. In the 
early times of which I am speaking, the thrifty 
housewife, with skirts tucked up, could have been 
seen tripping across South Water street to a little 
pier run out in the river, opposite each house, from 
which she filled her pail with water from the river, 
both for culinary and drinking purposes. At the 
present time we have probably the finest water 
works in the world, drawing a never-failing supply 
of the purest water from Lake Michigan, at a depth 
of 30 feet below the surface, and three or four miles 
out in the lake, from there carried in four brick tun¬ 
nels of five to eight feet in diameter, to the shore, one 
of them running under the city two miles inland to 
22 nd and Halsted streets, and then distributed 
through iron pipes to every part of the city, the 
whole project being one of the wonders of the age, 
the ponderous machinery used for this purpose being 
well worth seeing by any person curious in such 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 85 

matters. Vessels arriving at this port previous to 
the summer of 1834 had to anchor half a mile from 
shore, until the weather was such that they could 
unload into a Mackinaw boat, made of birch bark, 
so light and frail that it could cross the bar at the 
mouth of the river, where there was seldom over two 
feet of water. Cattle and horses brought as freight, 
were pushed overboard and then led or driven to 
shore. The entrance to the river was not direct as 
it is now, but curved around the shore to the south 
until it reached Jackson street or a little north of it, 
when it emptied into the lake. The main channel 
ran about under the center of the Illinois Central and 
Michigan Central depot; but the Government soon 
commenced work on improvements to be made, and 
before the spring freshets of 1834 commenced, had 
thrown cribs filled with stone across the channel of 
the river, in a line with the present south pier. The 
water on rising and finding no outlet in its natural 
course, with the help of all the men they could get, 
with shovels and hoes, who worked at it night and 
day for the next twenty-four hours, made quite 
a large water-course across the sand bar that laid 
between the river and the lake, the beginning of the 
present harbor or mouth of the river as it now is. 
It was but a short time before the large amount of 
water pouring into the lake, the snow being very 
deep that spring, washed out a channel large enough 
to let vessels of the largest class then sailing to pass 
into the river, and strange to say, after entering, 
there was over twenty feet of water in the main 
river, and in either branch, north or south, for two 
or three miles from its mouth, a very remarkable 


86 HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM i833 TO 1892. 

fact in such a flat country as this was, and a great 
help to navigation a few years after, as it would 
have cost a large amount of money and taken many 
years to have dredged it out for six miles or more. 

The same spring of 1834, there was a draw or 
rather lift bridge built across the river at Clark street, 
doing away with a ferr}", that had been run there in 
a large canoe for the accommodation of parties liv¬ 
ing on the North Side, the population of the village 
had increased during the spring of1834 to about 800, 
causing the actual necessity of more dwellings and 
stores being erected. The first forwarding and com¬ 
mission house was run by John Kinzie, afterward by 
Newberry & Dole, whose warehouse for years stood 
on the north side of the river, near Cass street, their 
business consisting wholly as to forwarding, in tak¬ 
ing freight from the few vessels that arrived and dis¬ 
tributing it by prairie schooners as they were called, 
being large covered wagons drawn by four or six 
horses, driven by men who camped out along side of 
them, cooking their own corn meal dodgers and 
bacon, and sleeping in the wagons ; these used to go 
as far west as Galena, which was then a large town, 
controlling the whole trade of the upper Mississippi, 
returning loaded with lead that was mined from the 
surrounding country. Contrast that one small 
warehouse in Chicago, fifty years since, with the 
numerous immense buildings of the present day, with 
their wonderful improvements for handling wheat, 
corn, etc., containing their hundreds of thousands of 
bushels of grain, which can be transferred into the larg¬ 
est vessels afloat in afew hours, and she is loaded and 
ready to sail again, and in thinking over it, the pro- 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 87 

gress made is wonderful to contemplate. It is the 
same with many other branches of business which have 
been wonderfully improved by the use of machinery, 
even to the raising of grain, etc., by the farmers of the 
surrounding country, who now harness up a horse 
to a plow and turnup three times the amount of land 
they could by hand. The hotel business has also 
increased to most enormous proportions, from the 
four small country taverns kept on our arrival, to 
scores of the largest kind of hotels open at the pres¬ 
ent time. Some of them being able to accommodate 
over a thousand of their patrons, attending to all 
their wants, and setting before them most sumptu¬ 
ous living that cannot be surpassed in any city in the 
world, London or Paris not accepted. It is the same 
with the dry goods business. Compare the immense 
trade done at the present lime, by over a score or 
more of wholesale and retail merchants, and the mag¬ 
nificent and costly buildings in which they do business, 
with the petty trade transacted here half a century 
since, and the increase and change is really astonishing. 
Some of the buildings being erected for the trade, are 
costing over a million of dollars each, being built 
of steel, entirely fire proof, 12 or 13 and even 16 
stories in height, and in size two or three hundred 
feet square, that will be the surprise of all visitors to 
the World’s Fair in 1893, where we hope to see hun¬ 
dreds of their brother merchants from all parts of 
the world. Again, see that large wagon factory on the 
West Side only one among numerous others in 
the city, turning out its hundreds of wagons 
yearly, shipped to New Mexico, California and Ore¬ 
gon, and all the country to the west of us, in 


88 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


comparison to one little solitary shop, kept open for 
repairs when I drove into the village, and you will 
be lost in wonder and astonishment, at the change a 
few short years have made. It is the same with 
carriages of all kinds, that are now sold by hundreds 
to all parts of the country, and can be found in 
every town west of us. Then the superior furniture 
made here, has so increased the trade that it is now 
said to be carried on more extensively than in any 
other city in the States, a most wonderful statement 
to make, of a city that has sprung from nothing in 
the last fifty years, but it is a fact. I might go on 
enumerating every kind of business, but have said 
enough on the subject to set all minds thinking of 
the wonderful progress made, both in population, 
and business, that even the wildest guess as to the 
future of the city would fall far short of the reality. 
And, now, what more can I say, than I have said? 
I have seen Chicago in its early day, when it was but 
a wet, marshy prairie supposed to be almost worth¬ 
less, with a small stream meandering through it, the 
edges of which for twenty or thirty feet on each side, 
were lined with wild rice almost hiding it from view, 
Indians roaming the surrounding country at their 
pleasure, at times filling the streets with their painted 
wariors and their no less ugly squaws, when the 
night was made hideous by their unearthly yells, 
accompanied at intervals by the howling of the wolf, 
as he sat on his haunches baying the moon, and in 
broad day light have seen the wild deer dash through 
our streets, crossing the river about LaSalle street, 
frightened by the hunters that were following them. 
And at a later day once saw a large black bear, 


&ISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 80 


captured in the lake near Waukegan, who had evi¬ 
dently been an occupant of the adjoining woods 
north of the cit}q and had been driven in the lake that 
morning by some parties after other game. I have 
seen Chicago when the floods swept away nearly 
every bridge in the city, and in the mighty rush of 
water, carried every vessel but one from her moor¬ 
ings, jamming them together in a shapeless mass 
near Rush street bridge, where they remained several 
days; this happened in 1849. And I have seen the 
city, as in 1871, almost destroyed by fire, and still 
live to see it risen Phoenix like from its ashes. A 
larger, grander and more beautiful city than ever 
before, or that we ever expected to see. If you can 
find any other in the world that in the last half 
century can equal it in size, population and also in 
its business, as the largest grain, pork, beef and lum¬ 
ber market to be found in any other part of the earth 
I should like to know of it, but feel that I am safe in 
saying it cannot be done. And if known, would be 
well worth the spending a few weeks in visiting, 
as it will this, in 1893, at the opening of and during 
the World’s Fair, where I can positively assure you 
the largest, and most wonderful display of goods of 
all kinds will be found in the immense buildings now 
being erected to receive them, from the various coun¬ 
tries that have determined to send their commodities 
to exhibit, and as for cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, etc., 
of the very best stock, will be here by hundreds from 
our western prairies as well as from the farmers 
around, to compare with those brought from older 
settled countries. And machinery of all kinds, will be 
found, equal, if not superior, to anything to be found 


90 HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


in the old world, from a watch spring, to the largest 
balance wheel, used on the most ponderous 
machinery in existence, and the various kinds of 
agricultural implements, consisting of plows, thresh¬ 
ing, binding and other machinery used with such suc¬ 
cess and so extensively on farms in the new States, 
and territories west of us, where they put fifteen to 
twenty men on their plows in the morning, running 
furrows ten miles long, returning by night, after 
breaking up an eighty acre tract of prairie land. Of 
this class of machinery, which has been shipped and 
used in several different quarters of the globe, you 
will find here, made and finished in the most scien¬ 
tific and artistic style. Also carriages of all sorts 
and sizes, from the smallest pony cart to the most 
elegant and beautifully finished two horse carriages, 
to be found anywhere, will be seen here in every 
different variety and shape. So again I would urge 
every one that possibly can, to come and see for them¬ 
selves, this wonderful city, only half a century old, 
and the fair to be held in it, that is to surpass any 
ever before held in any part of the old world. Our 
city also bids fair to outstrip many others in- size, as 
well as in the immense amount of business done in it. 
You will find a hearty welcome here, and everything 
will be done by railroads, vessels, etc., to facilitate 
you in shipping your goods, as well as cheapening. 
The excellent accommodations, you will find for 
traveling from the sea board, in the Pullman or 
Wagner cars and sleepers, and on arrival here those 
who are fond of driving can enjoy it over the most 
beautiful, smooth roads on our thirty miles of 
boulevards, that can be found anywhere in any 


HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 91 

country on the globe, while the eye will be delighted 
with the shrubs and flowers set out on the well 
kept borders each side of them for the whole 
distance to the park, some seven miles from the 
center of the city. And when you arrive there you 
will be no less astonished and gratified at the 
immense buildings and other improvements made in 
the park, and the facilities for riding to and fro from 
there to the city, either by land, or water on our 
beautiful lake, that extends some 350 miles north and 
sixty miles east, forming a large inland sea of fresh 
water, for use of navigation, extending from here to 
the east through the Straits of Mackinaw, Lake 
Huron, the river St. Clair and Lake Erie to Buffalo, 
some 1,000 miles or more, from there reaching the 
ocean, either by the river St. Lawrence through parts 
of Canada, or by canal and the East river to New 
York. And if the contemplated improvements are 
carried out by Congress and the city, we shall soon 
have communication by ship canal to the Illinois 
river some 350 miles to St. Louis, and from there 
down the magnificent river, the Mississippi, to the 
gulf at New Orleans, reaching the ocean either north 
or south, by sea-going steamers, adding very much 
to the facilities for shipments to all parts of the 
world, making this the very central city in the 
United States, for the collection and distribution of 
all manner of goods and merchandise, from the dif¬ 
ferent countries in the old world, as well as from 
Mexico and parts of South America. And also 
for the shipment of our produce of all kinds to the 
different countries needing it, without being com¬ 
pelled as before to ship either east or south, and 


92 HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


re-ship again from there to the desired destination. 
And while speaking of the beautiful drive to the 
parks on the South Side, we must not forget the 
drive along the lake shore on the North Side to Lin¬ 
coln park, a small park about two or three miles 
from the river, containing 150 acres or more, laid 
out in a beautiful and artistic style, and visited by 
thousands of our citizens every day in the year. And 
from there the Lake Shore drive has been improved 
and continued along the border of the lake to 
Evanston, some twelve to fifteen miles from the city, 
and is to be further extended and carried on to Fort 
Sheridan, now being improved and built up by the 
Government, for the use of the army, several regi¬ 
ments being already quartered there. The land is 
beautifully situated, high and dry, some eighty feet 
above the level of the lake, covered in part with 
groves of trees, hills and vales, and now some of it is 
being improved by Chicago citizens with a view to 
building suburban homes on their land, cutting it up 
in lots, as land is much cheaper north of the city than 
it is on the south side. 

I have previously written several articles describ¬ 
ing the difficulties the first settlers had in reaching 
Chicago, as well as their experience the first few years 
of residence here. I will now give you some idea of 
the trouble and difficulties we found in providing 
timber and material with which to build even the 
small houses and stores that were put up in those 
early days. There were no well-filled lumber yards, 
with an office adjoining, into which you could enter, 
as now, and leave your order for all the different 
kinds wanted. The whole stock of pine lumber in the 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 93 


village when I came here amounted to 5,000 or 
6,000 feet of boards, and that was held at $60 per 
1,000. Previous to 1833, most of the houses had 
been built of logs, some round, just as they came 
from the woods, while the more pretentious, belong¬ 
ing to the officers of the army and the great men of 
the village, were built of hewn logs. There was a 
small saw-mill run by water about five or six miles 
up the north branch, where they had built a dam 
across the stream, getting a three or four foot head 
of water, there was also a small steam saw-mill run 
by Capt. Bemsley Huntoon, situated a little south of 
Division street, at the mouth of a slough that emptied 
itself into the river at that point, in both of which 
they sawed out such timber as grew in the woods 
adjoining, consisting of oak, elm, poplar, white ash, 
etc. Of such lumber most of the houses were built, 
and any carpenter that has ever been compelled to 
use it, particularly in its green state, will appreciate 
its quality. In drying it will shrink, warp and twist 
every way, drawing out the nails, and, after a sum¬ 
mer has passed, the siding will gape open, letting the 
wind through every joint. Such was the stuff used 
for building in 1833 and 1834. Some even did worse 
than that, and went into the woods for their scant¬ 
ling, cutting down small trees and squaring one side 
of them with the broad-ax. One of the largest 
houses built that winter, by Daniel Elson, was built 
with that very kind, both for uprights and rafters. 
During the summer of 1834, the supply of pine lum¬ 
ber was greatly increased, and the price much lower. 
I think the most of it came from Canada, but even as 
late as 1837, timber was very scarce (and heavy 


94 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

timber was used in large buildings in those times, the 
frame being pinned together by mortice and tenon) 
that, wanting considerable of it to put up a factory, 
I found it cheaper to purchase ten acres of land, ten 
or twelve miles up the north branch, from which I 
cut the necessary logs, hauled them into the city on 
sleighs, and had them squared on the ground with 
the broad-ax. But heavier timber for frame build¬ 
ings soon after came into disuse, as it was found the 
present way of putting up frame buildings was much 
stronger and better. It used then to be called baloon 
framing. G. W. Snow, an old settler, had the credit 
of first originating the idea. 

Common inch lumber in 1837 had got to be more 
plentiful at $18 to $20 a thousand. I put up a build¬ 
ing, 30x40, two-story and basement, on the corner 
of Washington and Jefferson streets. It was the 
largest building on the West Side south of Lake 
street, and, standing there alone for years, served as 
a beacon for many a belated traveler over the ten 
miles of prairie between the village and the Desplaines 
river. At that time it seemed a long way out of 
town. There was but one shanty between it and 
Lake street bridge, and it really seemed quite a walk 
over the prairie to reach it. The West Side at that 
time contained but few inhabitants. When, a year 
or two later, the village took upon itself city airs, the 
third ward, extending from the center of Lake street 
south, and all west of the river, contained but sixty 
voters, the majority of whom were Whigs. It was a 
Whig ward, but that did not prevent the Democrats 
of that early day from colonizing about fifteen Irish¬ 
men from the North Side to try and carry it. I 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 95 


merely mention this fact as showing that the Demo¬ 
crat of 1839 was very much like his brother Demo¬ 
crat of 1892. I might tell a good joke of two promi¬ 
nent politicians of that time—how they cursed and 
swore at us when they found we positively refused to 
receive their Irish votes, after they had furnished 
them for ten days with whisky and board; but as 
they died in ’91, I will not mention their names. 

From 1838 to 1843, people began gradually to 
build a house here and there on the streets adjoining, 
between the location I had selected and the river; but 
the progress made was very slow. We were right in 
the midst of the panic which commenced in 1837. I 
changed my location in 1843, and built on Canal 
street, just south of Madison, and still had an 
unobstructed view of the bridge at Lake street, and 
walked to it over the greensward of the prairie. At 
this point it was foolishly supposed by many to be 
a good location for a residence, as it was a dry, good 
soil on the bank of the river, which was then a clear, 
running stream, and really looked pleasant. I built 
a brick house, surrounded it with a garden, and had 
fine, growing fruit trees; so also did two or three 
others, among whom were Chas. Taylor and Geo. 
Davis, whose widows are still living on the West 
Side; but before we reaped the fruits of it, business 
drew near us. Gates & Co. started a foundry within 
a block of us, and in 1848 a lumber-yard was estab¬ 
lished on the adjoining lot. That settled our idea as 
to Residence property, and in 1851 I moved to the 
corner of Thirteenth street and Michigan avenue. 
Here I rented a house and garden that was nearly 
surrounded with prairie. But business again fol- 


96 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

lowed us, and six months after we settled there the 
Illinois and Michigan Central railroads put up a 
temporary depot directly opposite to us on the east 
side of the street. To be sure we had the pleasure of 
seeing the iron-horse make its daily trips into the 
city of our choice, but this hardly compensated us for 
the annoyance we continually received from the 
tramps and others that came on the cars, begging for 
food and water; so we determined once moie to pull 
up stakes and selected a place on the lake shore two 
miles south of the city, in the grove between Thirty- 
ninth and Fortieth streets. But before speaking of 
that I will give you some idea of the expansion of 
the city in a southerly direction of what is called the 
South Side. 

I think it was in 1836 or 1837, that the old Tre- 
mont was put up on the northwest corner of Lake 
and Dearborn streets, owned and kept by Ira and 
James Couch, though in a very different st}de to 
what it has been kept the last twenty-five years. It 
was then a common country tavern for the accom¬ 
modation of farmers and others visiting the city. I 
have many a time met one of the proprietors on the 
prairie bringing a load of wood from the Dutchman’s 
Point, twelve miles up the north branch, and once or 
twice, when business was slack, met him on the road 
to Milwaukee, with a sleigh load of butter, dried 
apples, etc., to trade off to the denisons of the Cream 
City and turn an honest dollar. In 1838, the city 
had got as far south as Madison street. Two of my 
friends built on the south side of Madison, directly 
facing Dearborn street. This was the very outskirts 
of the city and seemed a long way from the center of 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 97 


business, then Clark and South Water streets. But 
it kept creeping southward, until, in 1850, it had 
reached Twelfth street, where on the northwest corner 
of that and State street, stood the Southern hotel. In 
1849, I was offered the ten acres adjoining, running 
from Twelfth to Fourteenth street, and west of State, 
for $1,200. Mathew Laflin tells me he purchased it 
for $1,000. It is apart of the property that has 
lately been sold to the railroad for a depot at $200 
to $300 a foot. 

In 1851, the Marine Bank offered twenty acres of 
land, running from State street to the lake, for $500 
an acre. A year or two later, a committee was ap¬ 
pointed to locate Dearborn Seminary, and urged the 
company to purchase the block between Wabash and 
Michigan avenues, just south of Fifteenth street, 
at $25 a foot, both fronts; but it was rejected with 
scorn, inquiring of them where they expected to 
get young ladies to fill the school in that neigh¬ 
borhood, so far south. At this time there was 
only a single buggy track running in a direct line 
across the prairie from the corner of State and 
Twelfth streets to the “oak woods,” as the groves 
south of Thirty-first street were then called. In driv¬ 
ing to that point, we only passed two houses—Mr. 
Clarke’s, on Michigan avenue and Sixteenth street, 
who owned a farm there, and Myrick’s tavern at 
Twenty-ninth street, who owned sixty or seventy 
acres from Twenty-seventh or Twenty-eighth to 
Thirty-first street. Then we came to the Graves 
tract of sixty or seventy acres, situated near the lake 
in the beautiful grove between Thirty-first and 
Thirty-third streets, on which was a house of resort 


98 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

called “ The Cottage.” The adjoining property of 
the same description, south of Thirty-third and 
north of Thirty-fifth streets, was in 1852, purchased 
by Senator Douglas, who donated ten acres of it to 
the Chicago University. This tract of seventy acres 
was owned before Douglas bought it by some bank 
in Philadelphia, and was offered for $7,000. I urged 
its purchase by the city for a park, through the 
papers of that day, but had my communications 
returned to me, with the remark that it certainly 
would benefit Cleaverville, but they did not think it 
would benefit the citizens of Chicago, being so far 
out of the city. From Thirty-fifth to Thirty-ninth 
steeet was the Ellis farm, of 200 acres, owned by 
Samuel Ellis, who lived in a clapboard house on the 
southwest corner of Thirty-fifth street and Lake 
avenue, where they had kept tavern for years, it 
being formerly the first station out of Chicago for 
the Detroit line of stages. It was about half a mile 
from “The Cottage,” and three-quarters from Myr- 
ick’s. These were then the only houses south of 
Thirteenth street, except one or two small places on 
the river; but it was on the Ellis farm I determined 
to build a factory in 1851, and, for that purpose, 
purchased twenty acres of him, on the lake shore, 
from the center of Lake avenue to the lake, between 
Thirty-seventh and Thirty-ninth streets. It was 
thought to be a wild scheme, and many a time I was 
laughed at, and asked with a smile if I ever expected 
Chicago to reach as far south as that, being then 
two miles beyond the city limits, which were at 
Twenty-second street. However, that did not deter 
me from building, even when the plans for a three- 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 99 


story building and cellar 80x1 GO feet were got out, and 
I was informed that it would take 100 cords of stone 
and 400,000 bricks to complete it. But it did become 
a matter of grave importance, how to get the 
brick, stone, lumber, etc., on the ground, as the brick 
kilns were on the West Side, near Twentieth and 
Halsted streets, and there was no bridge south of 
Madison street. But being accustomed to face diffi¬ 
culties, and, after looking the matter over, concluded 
the cheapest way was to build a scow and run a ferry 
over the river about Twenty-second street, for three 
or four months. But the trouble was not then over. 
Before the teamsters had been hauling thirty days, 
the road track in some places got so deep in sand 
that they informed me that they should have to 
throw up the contract (which was only $1 a thou¬ 
sand) unless half a mile of plank-road was built, 
which was accordingly done, and also built a bridge 
in front of the university over a slough 150 feet in 
length. There was little difficulty about the stone, as 
that was contracted to be taken down by tug on 
canal-boats. But for the heavy oak timbers and 
joists which were needed, I built another smaller 
scow, and towed it down the lake shore with horses. 
This was before the Illinois Central railroad had put 
any piling or crib-work in the lake, when the shore 
was a beautiful sandy beach, extending many feet 
from the high land to the water. I had, previously 
to this, put up several houses on the west side of the 
river, on the north branch, near Division street, for 
the use of my workmen, and wanted those moved to 
the lake shore at Thirty-eighth street, a distance of 
some seven or eight miles. The problem to be solved 


100 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


was how to get them there. Many difficulties were 
in the way of taking them by water; yet that seemed 
the only feasible plan. One great objection was that 
Chicago avenue bridge had no draw in it to let a 
boat pass; but, after taking advice upon the subject, 
I notified the city authorities they must remove it, 
as they had no right or authority to obstruct a nav¬ 
igable stream ; they removed it after a day or two’s 
delay. But that delay cost me the loss of one of the 
boats employed in moving the houses. Two canal- 
boats were lashed abreast of each other, and two 
houses chained cross-ways on them. In this way 
we found no difficulty in going to the mouth of 
the river. But a storm had come up on the lake, 
which compelled us to wait two or three days until 
it subsided. A man who had been left on board as 
watchman, getting tired of such a solitary life, of his 
own accord hailed a passing tug, and by himself 
braved the rolling waves of Lake Michigan; and, 
though the storm had in a great measure abated, yet 
there was a heavy swell washing shoreward, and 
the consequence was, the minute the tug cast them 
off a couple of hundred feet from land, they began 
to drift in broadside to the shore, and were soon 
driven up on the beach, the outer boat sinking, leav¬ 
ing the houses to all appearances, pitching into the 
lake. But, fortunately the chains held them, and, 
without further damage they were landed on the 
shore. But we were not so fortunate with the boat, 
which was wrecked the following day before we 
could get a tug to lay hold of it. Two other trips 
were made and four more houses safely landed, 
without farther loss. 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1802. 101 


Those houses are still standing, January, 1892, just 
north of Pier or Thirty-eighth street, on Lake avenue, 
and are the same that were floated down in 1851, 
more than forty years since, and with the brick build¬ 
ing 50x160, three stories and basement, together with 
the slaughter-house and other houses erected the 
same year, were the commencement of the large settle¬ 
ment of splendid houses built in that neighborhood 
now worth millions of dollars. The following year 
I built several more cottages, and soon found it 
almost a necessity to build a meeting-house, which 
was done in 1854, in which school was kept and the 
gospel was preached for many years. This building 
was afterwards removed to Hyde Park. In 1852,100 
acres bought by me—was platted and laid out as the 
village of Cleaverville, so named by the reporter for 
one of the papers of that day when I was in New 
York, and has since kept its cognomen, legally, at all 
events, although, from the station on the Illinois 
Central railroad being called Oakland, it has gradu¬ 
ally become known by that name, until many suppose 
that to be the legal appellation, and want their 
title-papers so designated. It was but a year after 
I erected the factory on the lake shore, that the 
Michigan Central came thundering along with their 
rails and iron-horse, within 100 feet of the building, 
thus rendering it almost useless for the purpose for 
which part of it was erected— viz.: a slaughter-house 
for the city butchers to kill in. They began killing 
there, but the cars frightened the cattle so, in those 
early days, that they dropped off one after the other, 
although Col. Hancock made his debut in it, as a 
Chicago packer, killing a few hundred head of cattle 


102 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


that winter. But others, as well as rr^self, soon 
recognized the locality as one of the most beautiful 
around Chicago for residence purposes, and I soon 
had an offer for a lot to build on, by Mr. Farrington, 
the well-known wholesale grocer, who was the first, 
except myself, to erect a building on the village tract. 
Others soon followed, and, on the Illinois Central 
putting on a train to run three times a day, citizens 
began to be attracted by the beauty of the location, 
and the first week of the cars running I sold five or 
six lots. In 1853, I built a house for myself, where I 
have since resided, and still live to see the gradual 
but wonderful change that has taken place in the 
country around; from a farm, fenced in with a rail 
fence, to a populous neighborhood, filled up with ele¬ 
gant stone, brick, and frame houses, acknowledged 
by all to be one of the most beautiful suburbs of the 
city; with its large brick school-houses, containing 
hundreds of children each, churches of all denomina¬ 
tions, and improvements of every kind. For the first 
ten or twelve years of my residence there I had to 
depend on myself for everything that was done to 
improve the neighborhood. There were no Hyde 
Park officials and the city would have nothing to do 
with us, so far as making streets and sewers were 
concerned. I well remember the making of Thirty- 
ninth street. It was such a swamp, west of Cottage 
Grove avenue, that I had to employ men to shovel it 
up, as a team could not work it. In fact, all the 
swales between the ridges were covered with water 
the summer through, breeding mosquitoes by the 
million, which was supposed to be one of the greatest 
drawbacks to the settlement of the neighborhood. 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 103 

But with the drainage of the land they soon decreased, 
and, on running a sewer from the lake in 1867, west 
on the street mentioned to Langley avenue, thus 
draining all the lots contiguous to it, they disap¬ 
peared altogether. When this part of the country 
was first settled there was no public conveyances 
of any kind. For years I drove in and out of the city 
in a buggy. Then came the first omnibus, running to 
Twelfth street every hour. It was, after a year or 
two, extended to the city limits at Twenty-second 
street, and gradually more ’buses were put on. Then 
some public-spirited individual put on a four-horse 
omnibus, to run to Myrick’s tavern, on Thirtieth 
street. That continued until about 1855 or 1856, 
when the horse-cars began to run, first to Twelfth, 
then Twenty-second, extending soon to Thirty- 
first, where they stopped for several years, until 
1867, when the track was laid to Thirty-ninth, its 
present terminus. All who ride on them now know 
what success they have met with, as they are con¬ 
tinually filled to overflowing, though running every 
three or four minutes for sixteen hours out of the 
twenty-four. Could Dr. Egan and Senator Douglas 
arise from their graves, they would indeed look on 
with astonishment. I mention them as the Doctor 
was the first to get a charter through the Legisla¬ 
ture for a steam or horse-railroad from the Calumet 
river to Chicago. He, the Senator, and myself organ¬ 
ized a company to build the road some time before 
it was commenced, but were defeated in the city 
council by their refusing us the right to lay down 
tracks in the city. Some two or three years after, the 
privilege was granted to others. 


104 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


While writing of public improvements, I will men¬ 
tion the water supply. Citizens, the first year or two 
of my residence here, went to the river bank and 
dipped it up by the pailful. Then, for a few years, it 
was carted from the lake shore, in water carts, and 
sold at 10 cents a barrel. After that, a stream was 
pumped from the lake shore into a tank or reservoir 
adjoining the steam flouring mill built on the north¬ 
east corner of Lake street and Michigan avenue, run 
by the late James H. Woodworth; the two tanks 
were certainly not over twelve feet deep, and stood 
probably four feet above the level of the ground, and 
from this, water was distributed through log pipes 
to a small portion of the city. This continued until 
about 1855-’56, when J. H. Dunham called a meeting 
of the citizens to meet over his store on South Water 
street, to take into consideration the need of a better 
and purer supply of water. At that meeting there 
were only five individuals present, but it was the first 
of a series that at last accomplished the object sought, 
and was the commencement of the present system of 
supply throughout the city. For many years it was 
pumped from the shore at the present site of the 
water-works, but finding at length that they pumped 
about as much small fish as they did water, the tun¬ 
neling of the lake to the crib, two miles from shore, 
was conceived and successfully accomplished. Since 
that it has been extended two miles beyond to still 
deeper water, getting a fresher and purer supply from 
a depth of some thirty feet below the surface of the 
lake, and the city is now building another, extending 
into the lake some four miles from shore with a tun¬ 
nel eight feet in diameter to connect it with the large 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1853 TO 1892. 105 

iron pipes laid in the streets for distribution in the 
city. 

Seeing in the Tribune , the statistics published in 
December, ’81, of the business done in the city, 
for the past year, both in packing and in grain, 
I thought it would be interesting to those con¬ 
nected with the trade to know from what small 
proportions it originally sprung. I will com¬ 
mence with the butchering and packing business, 
and to do that, must go back to the early days of 
1833, when Archibald Clybourn had a small log 
slaughter house on the east side of the north branch, 
a little south of the bridge now known by his name; 
he then killed weekly a few head of cattle, supplying 
the garrison and also the towns-people, and was one 
of the first who afterward put up both beef and pork 
for the surrounding country and villages north and 
west of us. He did quite an extensive trade as early 
as 1836—7, and was reputed to be a wealthy man in 
those days, not only from success in his business, but 
also from his land speculations. It was about that 
time, or probably a year or two later, that he made 
his famous trip to Milwaukee on horseback. He 
rode an old favorite gray horse of his, making the 
trip in ten or twelve hours, to secure a certain 80 
acres of land in or near the city last mentioned, by 
which transaction he made some $20,000—considered 
a large amount in those times, and ever after gave his 
faithful old horse free fodder in his barns and pastures. 
In the winter of 1842-3, he slaughtered and packed 
for Wm. Felt & Co., two or three thousand head of 
cattle to ship to New York city—the first beef ever 
packed in this city for an eastern market. The same 


106 HISTORY OR CHICAGO RROM 1833 TO 1892. 

season Gurdon S. Hubbard packed some cattle for 
the east, and perhaps he is entitled to the first place 
in Chicago packing, as he had a drove of about 300 
hogs brought in and sold to the villagers as early as 
1833, and from that time for many years, was largely 
identified with the packing interests of the city, con¬ 
tinuing in the business as late as 1855 or ’56, perhaps 
later. Mark Noble also killed a beast now and then, 
and sold among the people in the early days of 
1833—4, keeping it up for two or three years later— 
when he married and left for Texas, making several 
trips to the city years after with large droves of cat¬ 
tle. His brother, John Noble, resided on the north 
side of the city until a year or two since when he 
died. 

Sylvester Marsh also started a butcher shop on 
Dearborn street, between Lake and South Water 
streets as early as 1834, carrying it on until 1836 or 
’37, when, from his success in the business and land 
speculations, he thought he was rich enough, and left 
for Dunkirk, N. Y., where, in some unaccountable 
way he soon lost all he had, and in two or three 
years was back in Chicago, in partnership with 
George W. Dole, under the firm name of Dole & 
Marsh. They did quite an extensive business, both 
in killing for market and also in packing for them¬ 
selves and others at their slaughter house on the 
south branch. 

It was with this firm that Oramel and R. M. Hough 
served their apprenticeship to the packing business, 
who, for many years after were extensively known 
among those connected with the packing interests of 
Chicago, as Hough & Co., and Hough, Brown & Co. 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1S33 TO 1892. 107 


Sherman [Orin] & Pitkin [Nathaniel], an extensive 
dry goods firm of 1842—3, also went heavily into hog 
packing that winter, keeping it up for several seasons 
thereafter; they went into it when pork was at 
the lowest price ever known in Chicago. I bought 
several loads of dressed hogs out of farmers’ wagons 
that winter as low as $1.25 a hundred. Packing in 
those early days was quite an experiment, and few 
were found willing to risk their money in it, as they 
had to carry everything packed till spring, and then 
ship it to the east by vessel. Willian and Norman 
Felt, extensive farmers near Rochester, New York, 
were the first to make a regular business of it, as they 
continued killing at different packing houses in the 
city until about 1858 or ’59, and after that for years 
were the most extensive shippers of live stock from 
this place. Moshier & Clapp [Wm. B.] also packed 
largety of pork for the eastern market as early as 
1844 or 1845; they packed for a time in a store of 
Col. Gurdon S. Hubbard, inthecenter of the city,used 
by him for that purpose. They kept in the business 
for several years, until the death of Mr. Clapp, about 
1850. In connection with the slaughtering business 
of the city, I must not forget Absolom Funk, later 
Funk & Albee, who for years kept the largest and 
best meat market in the city. Mr. Funk had also 
several large farms near Bloomington, Ill., where he 
raised and fattened cattle for his own killing, making 
semi-monthly trips between the two places on horse¬ 
back, following his drove of cattle; when railroads 
commenced bringing cattle to the city, rendering his 
riding unnecessary, he soon felt the want of his cus¬ 
tomary exercise, sickened and died; his partner, 


i08 HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


Cyrus P. Albee, following him some years later. 
Reynolds [Eri] & Hayward [John] were also early 
packers of Chicago, taking Dole & Marsh’s packing 
house, on the south branch, where they carried on the 
| business quite extensively for many years, packing 
for themselves and others. 

Tobey [Orville H.] & Booth [Heman D.] com¬ 
menced business in their present location on the cor¬ 
ner of 18th and Grove streets, quite early. Mr. 
Tobey commenced first melting in a small rendering 
concern he bought of Sylvester Marsh, and moved 
there from the north side, and from that worked 
themselves up to be the most noted shippers of pork 
to the old country, still keeping up their reputation 
to this day for curing the best of meats. Col. John 
L. Hancock came to the city about 1853, making his 
first venture in packing by killing some 1,500 head of 
cattle in my slaughter house, on the lake shore at 
38th street, but soon became one of the largest pack¬ 
ers in the state, carrying on an extensive business at 
Bridgeport, both in beef and pork for many years, 
and was still there at his old trade in 1882. I have 
mentioned all of the first packers of Chicago, at all 
events, all I remember. 

There were only about 35,000 head of cattle 
slaughtered during the season from October to Jan- 
uar}q as late as 1857, and perhaps about 150,000 
hogs;* this seems a small business when compared 
with these times, when hogs are counted by the mill¬ 
ion, but it was then thought to be a very large trade. 

*Beef Packing.—C apital invested, $650,500; No. of cattle 
slaughtered, 2,800 ; bbls. packed, 97,500 ; annual receipts, $824,- 
000.— Chicago Directory , December, 1850. 





HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 109 

Up to this time, 1857, I had taken all, or nearly all, 
the tallow and lard from the various packing houses 
of the city, rendering it in the melting house adjoin¬ 
ing my factory on the lake shore at 38th street, 
where it was manufactured into soap, candles, 
lard oil, neatsfoot oil, etc., supplying the country 
west and north of us, and also in later years shipping 
tallow and oil to New York and Montreal. I com¬ 
menced in the fall of 1834, when a few hundred 
pounds a week was all I could get from the different 
butchers; it kept increasing slowly until 1843, 
when Felt and G. S. Hubbard commenced 
shipping beef, and Sherman & Pitkin pork, when 
finding it coming in faster than I could melt it by the 
old process, by fire, I conceived the idea of rendering 
by steam; John Rogers had tried it a year before in a 
small way, but did not make a success of it; but I 
found no trouble in bringing it into practical use,and 
from that day to this it has been used for all melting 
purposes; and at this late day has been brought to 
such perfection in the close tanks made of boiler iron, 
putting on steam at 80 to 100 pounds to the inch, 
that a tank of lard or tallow can be melted in a few 
hours. The first tanks I used were of wood, and took 
20 hours to render out. P. W. Gates & Co., who 
had just then started as boiler makers and machin¬ 
ists, set up the first boiler for me, with all the neces¬ 
sary coils, pipes, etc., and from that time until 
1856-7, I did the melting, or nearly all of it, for all 
the packers then in the city. A firm from Cincinnati, 
Johnson & Co., put up extensive melting works on 
the lake shore, north of 31st street, where they pur¬ 
chased five acres of Willard F. Myrick, in 1852, and 


110 HISTORY OP CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

spent some $40,000 in setting lip their iron tanks, 
etc., but had not capital enough to carry it on, and it 
became a dead failure; but after it had stood idle for 
many years, Johnson came on and commenced suit 
against the Illinois Central Railroad Co., for ruining 
their business by putting their tracks between the 
building and the lake, and managed to get a check 
out of the company for $50,000 damages. Gurdon 
S. Hubbard did his melting there for two or three 
years. Hough & Co. were the next to put tanks and 
boilers into their packing house at Bridgeport, about 
the year 1854-5; others soon followed, and in 1857 
I gave up the business, and from that time all the 
different packing houses have had their own tanks 
and melting apparatus, and there I leave—all nry own 
reminiscences of early packers and packing, but will 
copy a part of an article published in the Tribune 
Jan. 1st, 1883, in which they quote the names of some 
of the largest firms in the city at that time. 

I will now give my readers some idea of the begin¬ 
nings of the present grain trade of the city of Chi¬ 
cago, which has now reached such enormous propor¬ 
tions that it is counted by millions of bushels; in 
speaking of its growth it will be well to divide it into 
four different eras, which will also mark the prosper¬ 
ity and growth of the city. For the first three or 
four years, or until about 1837, we were indebted to 
other states for the larger part of what was con¬ 
sumed in the village and surrounding country, that 
would comprise the first era; from that time to 1842 
or 1843, farmers began to raise enough produce for 
themselves and their neighbors’ consumption, as 
well as supplying the citizens of Chicago with all 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. Ill 


that was necessary; but those years began to show 
the necessity of having some foreign market to take 
off their surplus produce, for in the winter of 1842-3, 
farmers’ produce of all kinds was so low it was 
hardly worth raising; for instance,dressed hogs sold 
as low as ten or twelve shillings a hundred, lard 
three dollars and a half a hundred, tallow six and a 
quarter, flour three dollars a barrel, oats and pota¬ 
toes ten cents a bushel, eggs four to five cents a 
dozen, dressed chickens and prairie hens five cents 
each ; such a state of things could not last, as farm¬ 
ers found it impossible to raise it for the money, and 
gradualh r all classes of produce were held till spring, 
for shipment round the lakes by vessel to New York; 
this would end the second era. From that period, 
prices gradually improved; but the hauling of it so 
many miles to a market—as they had to do—took 
off nearly all the profit. Farmers living on Rock 
river would take five days to market thirty bushels 
of wheat, finding when they got home, not over ten 
or twelve dollars left out of the price of their load; 
but for some purposes they had to have a little cash, 
and so continued to bring it. This lasted until 1851 
or ’52, when the Michigan Central and Southern 
railroads made their entry into the city, taking east 
the grain as it arrived, and making a better market 
for all kinds of country products. Previous to that 
time I have seen fifty teams in a line crossing the 
prairie west of us with their loads of grain for Chi¬ 
cago. There was also another class of farmers from 
the south that used, in a measure, to supply the city 
with necessaries, in the shape of green and dried apples, 
butter, hams, bacon, feathers, etc.; these men would 


112 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

bring their loads two or three hundred miles, camp¬ 
ing out on the way, cooking their rasher of bacon, 
corn-dodgers, and boiling their pot of coffee over the 
camp-fire, sleeping in their wagons at night, and 
saving money enough out of their load to purchase a 
few bags of coffee, and the balance in salt—this was 
the invariable return load of all Ho osiers, as we used 
to call all who came from Southern Indiana, who 
used to come in great numbers in their curious-shaped 
covered wagons, known in old times as prairie- 
schooners. I have seen numbers of their teams 
camped out on the dry ground east of State street, 
and counted one hundred and sixty from the roof 
of Bristol & Porter’s warehouse, near the corner of 
State and South Water streets; this closes the third 
era about 1852, when the iron-horse made its 
triumphant entry into the city from the east, snort¬ 
ing forth its volumes of steam and smoke, a blessed 
day indeed for the great west, for without the rail¬ 
road what could we have done ? 

Before the Michigan Southern and the Michigan 
Central railroads entered Chicago from the east, the 
Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company was 
laying its tracks, and pushing on to the west, mak¬ 
ing its first stopping-place at the Desplaines river, 
ten miles from the city, then at Wheaton, then the 
Junction, and so on to Elgin, Pigeon Prairie, Belvi- 
dere, Rockford, and other stations until at last it 
reached Freeport, relieving the farmers at every 
stopping place from their long and tedious journeys 
by team, enabling them to utilize their own labor, 
and the service of their teams, in improving their 
farms, and adding every season to the amount of 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 113 


grain sown, until with the great increase in the last 
few years of farm-machiner}^ and the facilities for 
moving and storing grain, there seems to be no end 
to the amount forwarded; and although railroads 
have stretched their iron arms through every county 
in the state, and for thousands of miles into other 
states and territories west of us, it is as much and 
more than they can do to relieve the farmer of his 
surplus produce. What will be done with it in the 
next fifty years, time alone will reveal, for the crops 
of grain were so large in 1891, north and northwest 
of us, that the different lines of railroad could not 
furnish cars enough to carry it off. There were, it 
was said, some fifteen hundred car loads awaiting 
transportation at Duluth, the western port of Lake 
Superior, on the 1st day of last December. 


114 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


TRADE AND MANUFACTURES OF CHICAGO 
DURING 1891. 


The commercial record of last year for this city is 
one of activity in most departments, and generally of 
strength. It also presents some marked contrasts, 
of time as well as of place, and the order of 1890 was 
reversed in that the last half of the year was dis¬ 
tinguished by buoyancy following comparative 
dullness in the first six months. In both seasons the 
measure of prosperity accorded to Chicago was 
greater than that which blessed most other cities in 
the United States, and this country was prosperous 
as against the world. In the great Mississippi val¬ 
ley nature fairly laughed with a superabundance of 
cereal wealth, while Europe was unusually deficient 
in food supply from its own harvests, and the ener¬ 
gies of our grain merchants were severally taxed most 
of the time after midsummen to meet the novel con¬ 
ditions. Previous to that date, before the crop sur¬ 
plus was ready to move, the trade of many other 
cities in the Union was dull, and compared unfavor¬ 
ably with that of other years, but we were relatively 
active. While other sections suffered by sympathy 
with the financial stringency in the old world the 
work of preparation for the great Fair supplied the 
necessary stimulus here, and, when the crops got 



HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 115 


tinder way the two made ns by far the busiest city on 
the continent. Under that double spur Chicago far 
excelled any previous trade record, and the rush was 
so great as to be embarrassing to many who had not 
the full tide of youthful vigor coursing through their 
veins. Every avenue was crowded to the utmost, and 
personal travel was often performed under difficulties, 
due to the fact that the demand for accommodation 
far exceeded the supply of vehicles. 

The weather of the year was exceedingly favorable 
throughout, both to local development and uninter¬ 
rupted communication with the areas surrounding 
us. Work on buildings for the Fair and those erected 
for private citizens was carried on last winter almost 
without a break, while the summer season was uni- 
formerly cool and free from storms. The only local 
disadvantage attending the absence of normal rains 
was very low water in the lake and river, which 
somwhat hindered navigation. And the present 
winter has not been so severe up to date as was 
generally expected, though there is yet ample time in 
which to compensate for mildness through the last 
three seasons that include the beginning and ending 
of the calendar year. Some branches of trade, those 
handling winter goods, were decidedly slow ten to 
twelve months ago because of the absence of severe 
cold, but this condition was in marked contrast to 
that prevailing on the other side of the Atlantic. The 
^season there was a fearfully rigorous one, the result 
being extraordinary short crops, especially in Russia 
and France. But for that the crop abundance in this 
region would probably have induced another era of 
low prices for farm produce, such as was passed 


116 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

through two years ago, and our farmers would be 
again poor in the midst of plenty. It is estimated by 
Secretary Rusk of the Agricultural Department at 
Washington that the better yield and prices are 
worth to the farmers of the United States $700,- 
000,000 more than were the crops of 1890, of which 
extra value he credits $500,000,000 to grain and 
$150,000,000 to live stock. 

The greater part of this gain falls to the lot of the 
farmers in the Mississippi Valley. A portion of it 
flows into their laps from the consumers who live in 
the Eastern States as well as from Europe. Also 
they are growing richer as compared with the South, 
the cotton crop of that section being estimated to 
return less by $14,000,000 than the one of 1890, 
though the latest is much the larger of the two. The 
enormous gain by the Western farmers has directly 
helped Chicago. They have been better able to buy 
clothing, footwear, groceries, and other personal 
comforts, and to invest more in lumber, machinery, 
wagons and varions other material Tor aiding work 
or adding to conveniences on the farm. In conse- 
quence of this the mercantile and manufacturing 
industries of the city have been highly prosperous 
ever since there was reasonable assurance of larger 
crops than usual. In the first few months these 
industries suffered from the depressing effects of 
poorer cereal yield in 1890 in this country and the 
money stringency in Europe which culminated with 
the Baring troubles nearly fourteen months ago, and 
from then till now have dragged their slow length 
along with accumulating losses from bad invest¬ 
ments in other lands. This, with a smaller amount 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 117 

of railroad building, has prevented the total manu¬ 
facturing output of the city from surpassing the 
record of 1890, in addition to which the farmers of 
the West have not bought so much as many had 
expected. There was a good general disposition on 
the part of such of them as had mortgage indebted¬ 
ness to pay off wholly or in part, and the number of 
such liabilities released before maturity of the con¬ 
tract far exceeds that of other years. The debtors 
did not care to wait for the opportunity of paying 
with the fiat money demanded by the Ocala platform 
or even for the cheap money promised by the advo¬ 
cates of free silver coinage. Both of these measures 
were extensively agitated up to a few months ago, 
but are not now so widely favored, though the lat¬ 
ter will be pressed and probably the other asked for 
in Washington this winter. 

The business of this city has already been materially 
augmented by the reciprocity arrangements between 
the United States and other countries authorized by 
Congress. Our merchants have somewhat extended 
trade with South America and islands in the Gulf of 
Mexico, and anticipate great things to result erelong 
from carrying out the Blaine policy. Germany, Den¬ 
mark, Italy, Austria and France have successively 
lifted the bars which forbade the entry of our pork 
products into those countries and shut out $20,000,- 
000 worth of hog products per year for the last 
decade. A treaty is concluded with Germany by 
which other produce will be admitted on favorable 
terms from the United States in return for our con¬ 
tinued reception of her beet sugar free of duty. And 
the closing of the year was marked by an advantage- 


118 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

ous arrangement between tlie United States and the 
principal West Indian colonies. 

The total addition to the track mileage of the rail¬ 
roads in the United States during the }^ear is reported 
as 4,168 miles against 6,280 miles in 1890, 5,195 in 
1889, 6,679 in 1888, and 12,667 in 1887. The total 
mileage to date is 171,000. In only two of the last 
ten years—1883 and 1885—was the construction less 
than in 1891. The additions during the last year have 
been in the way of short extensions and branch lines, 
the average length of new lines being but 16.7. 

This country has been at peace, though surrounded 
by wars and vexed with rumors of foreign prepara¬ 
tions for what threatens to be the most gigantic 
armed struggle of the century. The revolution in 
Brazil and Chili did not involve us, though the lat¬ 
ter led to a complication that looked dangerous. 
There was a shadow of strife with England over the 
seal fisheries on our western coast and a deep diplo¬ 
matic mutter from Italy over the work of Judge 
Lynch in New Orleans. These things have, however, 
been trifles compared with the apparent gravity 
of the situation among the great powers of 
Europe. Russia is reported to be menacing China, 
has demanded the passage of her vessels through 
the land-locked avenues that connect the Black 
Sea with the Mediterranean, and is understood 
to have joined France in a broad hint that 
England must evacuate Egypt or take the conse¬ 
quences. The land forces of the Muscovite have been 
for months facing those of Germany and Austria, and 
a mere spark has seemed to be all that was needed to 
start an explosion that might shake a great part of 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 119 


the old world as badly as Japan was torn up by its 
recent earthquakes. More than one of the powers is 
asserted to have purchased war supplies in the United 
States, and some have thought that only the cereal 
destitution in Russia has prevented an armed conflict 
ere this. But so far all is peace, though it seems 
hardly possible the same can be truly said many 
months longer. It is difficult to say what would be 
the effect of a rupture on the commerce of Chicago, 
but undoubtedly it would stimulate to greater 
activity in more than one channel. 

In the following columns containing a summary 
of the business of the city for 1891, the totals 
do not include the speculative transactions in pro¬ 
duce, except those sales which have been followed by 
the actual delivery of the property on its way between 
the producer and the consumer. Of course those 
values have been affected by the speculative fluctua¬ 
tions, but that does not alter the fact that the busi¬ 
ness is counted on a strictly cash basis. The esti¬ 
mates do not take account of the value of buildings 
except as the preparation of materials for their con¬ 
struction has swelled the totals in the list of manu¬ 
facturers. The real estate transactions are treated at 
length in a special review, and in the figures in this 
article the values of the real estate transfers are not 
included. 

AGGREGATE VALUES FOR THE YEAR. 

The following is an approximation to the total 
value of our trade during 1891: 

Produce trade. $497,000,000 

Wholesale. 517,200,000 

Manufactures. 567,012,000 


Total 


$1,581,000,000 







120 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


These three departments, however, overlap each 
other, especially the last two, as material manufact- 
urered here is sold at wholesale by the manufacturer. 
Following up the same plan as in former years in 
estimating for this doubling up, there should be 
deducted from the above $122,000. The statement 
. then stands as follows: 

Total trade, 1891. $1,459,000,000 

Total trade, 1890. 1,380,000,000 


Increase. $79,000,000 

Or 5.7 per cent. 

The following are the Tribune's totals for a series 
of years. The figures in the twentieth line are for the 
twelve months from October 11, 1871, to October 
11, 1872, the series having been interrupted by the 
great fire: 


1891.$1,459,000,000 

1890. 1,380,000,000 

1889. 1,177,000,000 

1888. 1,125,000,000 

1887. 1,103,000,000 

1886. 997,000,000 

1885. 959,000,000 

1884. 933,000,000 

1883. 1,050,000,000 

1882. 1,045,000,000 

1881. 1,015,000,000 

1880. 900,000,000 

1879. 764,000,000 


1878. $650,000,000 

1877. 595,000,000 

1876. 587,000,000 

1875. 566,000,000 

1874. 575,000,000 

1873. 514,000,000 

1871-’72. 437,000,000 

1870. 377,000,000 

1869. 336,000,000 

1868. 310,000,000 

I860. 97,000,000 

1850 . 20,000,000 


It has been a year of recovery. The shock given 
the financial world by the Barings panic in the fall of 


1890 was severe. Why at the close of 1891 we have 
only just about got back to a normal state of public 
confidence. The distinctive feature of the first half of 


the year was an export movement of gold in amount 
without precedent in the history of the country. 
About $75,000,000 was split in answer to the urgent 
































HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 121 


needs of Europe. The other characteristic feature 
of the year, and one which will likely make 1891. a 
landmark, is the enormous agricultural crop. One of 
the greatest crops we have ever raised came at a 
time when the foreign demand had been wonderfully 
increased because of short crops there, and this con¬ 
junction has built a foundation for prosperity which 
promises to hold a colossal structure of commerce 
to be built in 1892. 

With the beginning of the year the vital interest 
which had been taken in the course of the money 
market began to wane. Money became more plenti¬ 
ful. The tide turned almost exactly with the advent 
of Jan. 1. It was noticeable in London first. But 
soon the New York bank statement began to show 
great increase in the reserve. A surplus reserve of 
nearly $25,000,000 was piled up by the 1st of Feb¬ 
ruary, and interest rates for call money dropped to 
2 per cent. It began to be apparent that the volume 
of business in 1891 was not likely to compare favor¬ 
ably with the preceding year. The shock that the 
money panic had given commercial affairs resulted in 
the stoppage of all extensions of industries and in 
actual contraction in many lines. Money began to 
pile up in the country banks and as an active demand 
for commercial paper developed it was found that the 
supply of paper was unusually scant. 

By the last of February the price of foreign exchange 
began to appear as one of the prominent influences. 
The gold movement began and steadily increased in 
volume. The Bank of England had to pay the 
£3,0o0,000 borrowed from the Bank of France at the 
time of the Barings difficulty. All Europe wanted 


122 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

gold. Public sentiment was extremely sensitive. 
The effect of this gold movement was intensified by 
the fact that it went on with apparent disregard of 
sterling rates. Exports were steadily made in the 
face of a sterling market which made it certain that 
the exporters were losing money by the shipment. 

As early as April there was a foreshadowing of the 
crop situation. Reports from the agricultural sec¬ 
tions of this country showed that conditions had 
never been more favorable, and the fact that the 
foreign crops had been greatly damaged also began 
to develop. This situation put life into the stock 
market. It was the first time during the year that 
it had felt the influence of public sentiment. The 
public carried the market away from the professional 
operators. As prices began to go up the professional 
manipulators confidently counted upon reactions, 
but the reactions did not materialize. About every¬ 
thing on the list showed some advances. 

This budding boom in the stock market received a 
check from the continued outward flow of gold. The 
movement did not stop at anything like such points 
as it had stopped in former years. The largest out¬ 
ward movement in recent years was in 1889, when 
shipments for the first six months aggregated about 
$37,000,000. For the first six months of 1891 the 
aggregate reached over $70,000,000. It was natural 
that such a loss of the precious metal should cause 
some apprehension, and that feeling was emphasized 
by the fact that so many shipments were made when 
rates of exchange indicated a loss in the transaction. 
The fact that the foreigners should want gold so 
badly as to be willing to accept a considerable loss 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 123 

in order to get the actual metal, created a feeling of 
much uncertainty. After that people felt that there 
was nothing in the situation that they could count 
on definitely, and there were fears that this gold 
movement might go on to some undreamed-of extent. 
About the only figure this gold movement really cut 
in financial affairs was in its effect upon the minds of 
men, for, notwithstanding a loss of gold which 
reached $75,000,000, money continued plenty for all 
purposes. 

Affairs took a square turn by the last of August. 
The outward movement of gold had hardly stopped 
before the current set this way. The crops by this 
time had got nearer a certainty. Many of them 
were already assured, and the fact of an exceptional 
foreign demand was fully established. The third 
quarter of the year closed with every branch of indus¬ 
trial and mercantile affairs in an improved condition. 
People turned their faces from the discouragement of 
the past and began to look forward to the promises 
of prosperity. These promises had the solidest of 
foundations in crops of marvelous extent. Farmers 
were assured prices for these crops which made it 
certain that the year was to be probably the most 
prosperous the farmers had ever known. An unusually 
early crop movement began, and bankers were nearly 
everywhere predicting a stringent money market as 
a result of the great strain this crop movement would 
put upon the country’s supply of currency. Events 
proved that the bankers were wrong in their predic¬ 
tions. Never before was the movement of produce 
so rapid, and never before was it accomplished with 
less financial friction. At no time has the money 



124 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


market been anything but easy. In the face of the 
largest receipts of grain at the great central markets 
which were ever known the banks not only had 
money enough to carry on that movement, but they 
often had a surplus which was uncomfortably large. 
This condition of the money market has continued to 
the end of the year. 

Fifty years ago, where now stands this magnificen t 
metropolis, could only be found old Fort Dearborn 
with a few primitive log cabins surrounding it to 
break the dull monotony of the vast prairie expanse. 
Today mark the contrast! Instead of a few soldiers 
for a population, the trading of a few trinkets to 
nomadic red men for a commerce, we have a popula¬ 
tion of over 1,200,000 souls; business edifices un¬ 
equalled in any city in the world, and a commerce of 
almost fabulous proportions! Here may be found 
many of the largest manufacturing establishments 
and commercial firms on the globe; business enter¬ 
prises requiring capital in their conduct that might 
ransom a principality. Where else may be found the 
counterpart of the commercial houses which we select 
as representative in their different departments of 
trade, from among hundreds of worthy compeers. 

For instance let us name: 

Armour & Co., whose beef and pork product in 
their several forms are known the world over, and 
the startling immensity of whose works is one of the 
marvelous sights of the city. Or McGeoch, Evering- 
ham & Co., in the grain and provision commission 
business, one of the largest and strongest firms in 
the whole Northwest, doing a strictly commission 
business. Or T. W. Harvey, in the lumber business, 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 125 


who sold and shipped during the last 3 r ear over 100,- 
000,000 feet of lumber; we have heard of no other 
firm in the United States having such a trade. Then, 
too, Palmer, Fuller & Co., who are acknowledged to 
manufacture and sell more sash, doors, blinds, and 
hardwood interior-finish goods than any other estab¬ 
lishment in the world. John V. Farwell & Co., who 
in wholesale dry goods claim to do the largest job¬ 
bing business of any house in the country; Sprague, 
Warner & Co., grocers—we question whether any 
other house on the continent can claim a better trade 
or enjoys a more enviable reputation. Then there 
are J. S. Kirk & Co., admitted to be the largest soap 
manufacturers in the country, whose production of 
laundry and toilet soaps is known all over America; 
Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co., jobbers in general 
shelf and light hardware, whom we are informed, are 
the largest dealers in their line in the United States; 
in boots and shoes, C. M. Henderson & Co., are the 
largest manufacturers and jobbers in the Union; 
Keith Brothers, manufacturers and jobbers in hats, 
caps, and gents’ furnishing goods, are acknowledged 
to be the leading house of America; M. E. Page & Co., 
manufacturers of confectionery, whom, we are credi¬ 
bly informed, produce and sell more goods annually 
than any other two firms in the United States. 

And so we might go on naming other instances in 
other departments to illustrate the magnitude and 
character of the commercial houses of Chicago. 
Enough, however, have been given to afford to the 
reader, in connection with the statistical part of this 
trade review and the following mention of prominent 
houses, an intelligent idea of the immense commerce 


126 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

and capacity of this metropolis and its importance 
to the trade marts of the world. The reader’s atten¬ 
tion is now invited to the accompanying exhibit of 
cattle, hogs, sheep, etc., received in the past eight 


SHIPMENTS BY WESTERN ROADS. 


Months. 

Cattle. 

Calves. 

Hogs. 

Sheep. 

January . 

8,694 

775 







February. 

4,948 

1,307 


432 




March. 

3,941 

1,392 

155 

386 

April. 

5,474 

1,965 

405 

121 

May.. 

5,677 

1,070 

891 

479 

June. 

6,206 

292 

1,001 

1,938 

July. 

5,749 

246 

257 

2,810 

August. 

5,968 

9,416 

1,287 

6,817 

September. 

8,343 

8,153 

2,554 

10,366 

October. 

16,278 

5,170 

2,073 

5,078 

November. 

9,164 

2,665 

523 

3,704 

December. 










Total. 

80,442 

32,451 

9,146 

32,131 


The monthly averages of hogs received for the past 
eight years were as follows, December, 1881, being 
estimated: 


Month. 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 

1881 

January.. .. 

253 

261 

281 

253 

280 

275 

265 

258 

February... 

212 

251 

262 

257 

270 

236 

266 

232 

March. 

202 

217 

220 

239 

242 

219 

241 

217 

April. 

198 

207 

217 

231 

225 

218 

230 

220 

May. 

200 

210 

223 

228 

223 

225 

225 

226 

June. 

208 

218 

233 

231 

229 

231 

229 

233 

July. 

208 

223 

234 

237 

224 

229 

230 

233 

August. 

208 

222 

242 

238 

229 

237 

228 

233 

September.. 

209 

230 

246 

243 

440 

252 

233 

234 

October .... 

222 

239 

256 

252 

252 

250 

247 

242 

November... 

’ 244 

256 

262 

265 

268 

264 

262 

262 

December. .. 

253 

271 

268 

270 

270 

264 

264 

265 


The annual receipts of cattle, hogs and sheep since 
the opening of the Union Stock Yards have been as 


follows: 





















































HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1829. 127 


Years. 

Cattle. 

Hogs. 

Sheep. 

Total. 

1866. 

393,007 

961,746 

207,987 

1,562,740 

1867. 

329,188 

1,696,738 

180,888 

2,206,814 

1868. 

324.524 

1,706,782 

270,891 

2,302,197 

1869. 

403,102 

1,661,869 

340,072 

2,405,043 

1870. 

532,964 

1,693,158 

349,853 

2,575,975 

1871. 

543,050 

2,380,083 

315,052 

3,238,186 

1872. 

684,075 

3,252,623 

310,211 

4,246,909 

1873. 

761,428 

4,337,750 

291,734 

5,390,912 

1874. 

843,966 

4,258,379 

333,655 

5,436,000 

1875. 

920,843 

3,912,110 

418,948 

5,251,901 

1876. 

1,096,745 

4,190,006 

364,095 

5,650,005 

1877. 

1,033,151 

4,025,970 

310,240 

5,369,361 

1878. 

1,083,068 

6,339,654 

310,420 

7,733,142 

1879. 

1,215,732 

6,448,330 

325,119 

7,989,181 

1880. 

1,382,477 

7,059,355 

335,810 

8,777,642 

1881. 

1,546,382 

6,470,917 

493,822 

8,511,571 


The article below is copied from the Tribune of Jan¬ 
uary 1, 1887, and the immense business done by 
Messrs. Armour & Co., would hardly be believed, 
without the figures were shown for it. Below they 
are given: 

Number of hogs killed the past year... 1,112,969 
Number of cattle killed the past year... 380,656 
Number of sheep killed the past year... 85,777 
During the past year the dressed-beef business has 
largely increased, and all other departments show a 
marvelous growth. The sales of refined lard, oils, 
butterine, sausage, canned goods, etc., show a much 
larger volume of business than ever before. The firm 
canned during last year nearly 40,000,000 pounds of 
meats, and are now working on a large contract of 
boiled beef for the French Government. In addition 
to their regular packing business the Armour Glue 
Works, which have been in operation only one year, 
have doubled their capacity for producing glue and 
all other products of the factory. Their facilities for 
manufacturing glues of superior quality are unsur- 































128 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

passed, as the regular packing business of the firm 
furnishes them with an immense fresh daily supply of 
material, which is a most important feature for the 
production of these goods. By this means the highest 
grades of glue, gelatine, isinglass, bone meal, size for 
papermakers, neatsfoot oil, etc., are produced. In 
fact, the high reputation of the numerous products 
of Armour’s Glue Works is recognized throughout the 
world, and the works, although double their former 
capacity, were pressed to supply the demand. The 
various products named find a ready sale on their 
merits in all parts of the country. The glue works 
are eight acres in extent, covered with buildings, giv¬ 
ing employment to 300 people. One of the principal 
products of these works is the brewers’ isinglass. 
The sales for this product have trebled in two years, 
and brewers everywhere are using Armour’s Brewing 
Isinglass with great satisfaction. 

The total sales of Armour & Co., for last year (ex¬ 
clusive of Board of Trade transactions),reach $50,- 
000,000. From the above statement of facts our 
readers can perhaps form some conception of the 
immense business done by this world-renowned firm, 
whose numerous products are found in every country 
on the face of the earth. Besides the 300 employes 
in the glue works, the firm gives employment to over 
5,000 hands at their slaughtering and packing works, 
an$a force of 150 clerks is kept constantly employed 
at the general offices of the company in the Home In¬ 
surance Building, on the corner of La Salle and Adams 
streets. 

A proof of the world-wide reputation of this firm is 
the desire of all visitors, not alone from every section 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 129 

of our own country, but from all parts of the world, 
to visit the Armour packing houses. To accommo¬ 
date these visitors Mr. Armour grants the privilege. 
The consequence is, go to the packing houses at any 
time and } t ou are sure to see a number of very inter¬ 
ested spectators. The extreme cleanliness of such a 
vast institution, the rapidity of the work, and the 
superior quality of the product are always most 
favorably commented upon. 

I see by the papers that they are still calling' for 
more food for the starving poor in Russia, and I 
would suggest that instead of shipping them flour, 
which is about the most expensive food that could be 
sent, that some of the cheaper parts of the cattle that 
are slain at the stock yards, hundreds of tons of 
which could be had for a mere trifle, as it is just 
steamed up for the small portion of grease to be ob¬ 
tained from it, which when steamed, and the grease 
skimmed off would leave a large amount of nutri¬ 
tious liquid, and if condensed into an extract, could 
be conveniently shipped to Russia at a mere trifle of 
the cost of the flour. One barrel of the extract with 
water added, would feed three or four thousand 
persons, especially if thickened with a little corn- 
meal. I think the experiment well worth trying, and 
sincerely hope someone will undertake it, forthe good 
of the public, and perhaps thesavingof many lives. 

Congressman Owen Scott, of Illinois, has intro¬ 
duced a resolution in Congress asking for a govern¬ 
ment appropriation of $1,000,000 for the purpose of 
making a corn exhibit at the World’s Fair. If carried 
ried out great good will result to the corn-producing 
states. A corn exhibit at which the many nutritious 


130 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

qualities of corn as human food could be demon¬ 
strated to the many thousands of foreigners could 
not fail to be vastly beneficial to both producers and 
consumers. The masses of Europe require cheap 
food. Practically they know nothing about the 
value of our corn as human food. It therefore be¬ 
comes the duty of our government, the duty of the 
corn-producing states in the corn belt, the duty of 
the farmers and business men, to see that the value of 
corn for food is spread before the hungry masses of 
all the world. The financial results that will surely 
accrue to our farming community in the corn-pro¬ 
ducing states should arouse the people of those 
states to prompt and immediate action. 

In order to arrive at a better understanding of this 
question, figures are submitted in the following table 
showing the productions, exports, price per bushel, 
average yield per acre, and average value per acre 
for the years 1881 to 1890 inclusive: 


YEARS. 

PRODUCTION, 

BUSHELS. 

EXPORTS, 

BUSHELS. 

1 

PER CENT 

EXPORTED. 

1 

av’age value| 

PER BU., CTS.I 

av’age yield 

PER ACRE. 

av’age value 

PER ACRE. 

1881.. 

1,194,916,000 

44,340,683 

3.7 

63.6 

18.6 

$11.84 

1882.. 

1,617,025,100 

41,655,653 

2.6 

48.5 

24.5 

11.92 

1883.. 

1,551,066,895 

46,258,606 

3.0 

42.4 

22.7 

9.63 

1884.. 

1,795,528,000 

52,876,456 

2.9 

35.7 

25.8 

9.19 

1885.. 

1,936,176,000 

64,829,617 

3.3 

32.8 

26.5 

8.69 

1886.. 

1,665,441,000 

41,368,584 

2.5 

36.6 

22.0 

8.06 

1887.. 

1,456,161,000 

25,360,869 

1.7 

44.4 

20.1 

8.93 

1888.. 

1,987,790,000 

70,841,673 

3.6 

34.1 

26.3 

8.95 

1889.. 

2,112,892,000 

103,418,709 

4.9 

28.3 

27.0 

7.63 

1890.. 

1,489,970,000 

32,041,529 

2.2 

50.6 

20.7 

10.48 

Ann’l 







Av. 

1,680,696,599 

52,299,237 

3.04 

41.7 

23.43 

$9.53 


















HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 131 


[The table shows the production for calendar years 
and the exports relate to fiscal years, beginning July 
of the year named.] 

From this table you will observe that the average 
annual production amounted to 1,680,696,599bush- 
els, while the average annual exports during the 
same period were 52,299,237 bushels, which was 
only a trifle over 3 per cent of our product, or 3.04 
per cent. This brings to light another fact—namely: 
that at present we consume nearly all of our corn 
productions at home. We could, however, produce 
twice our present crop of corn if we had a market 
for it. 

Such a market exists today, but our people do not 
realize it, while the people in foreign countries who 
are hungry do not know that corn is fit for human 
food. It is our national, state and commercial duty 
to teach these people its value. It is a philanthropic 
duty as well. As to our capacity for producing corn 
to supply the increasing foreign demand, I quote the 
following from Assistant Statistician B.«W. Snow, 
who says: 

“With an acreage of 78,000,000 acres, it is the 
largest arable crop grown in any country, and our 
capabilities of extension in its production are hardly 
appreciated.” * * * “In measured quan¬ 

tity our corn crop of a single year has exceeded the 
wheat crop of the civilized world, and no other grain 
approaches it in volume.” 

Thus far we have been shown what our corn pro¬ 
ductions are and what our exports amount [to. We 
propose in the next table to show the comparative 
value of corn for food as related to other cereals. 


132 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

The following comparative table showing the rela¬ 
tive value of the different cereals as food was com¬ 
piled by the Chemical Division of the Department of 
Agriculture: 



HULLED 

OATS. 

WHEAT. 

RYE. 

BARLEY. 

CORN OR 

j MAIZE. 

Water. 

[6.93 

10.27 

8.67 

6.53 

10.04 

Ash. 

2.15 

1.84 

2.09 

2.89 

1.52 

Oil or fat. 

'8.14 

2.16 

1.94 

2.68 

5.20 

Digestible carbohydrates. 

67.09 

71.98 

74.52 

72.77 

70.69 

Crude Carbohydrates. 

1.38 

1.80 

1.46 

3.80 

2.09 

Albuminoids. 

14.31 

11.95 

11.32 

11.33 

10.46 


From this table it is evident that corn compares 
most favorably with all the other cereals. In the 
item of oil or fat-producing qualities it excels all 
others from two to three times, with the single ex¬ 
ception of hulled oats. We do not think it a fair 
comparison to take hulled oats. Yet corn exceeds 
hulled oats in the quantity of digestible carbohy¬ 
drates nearly 4 per cent. 

We have shown the national corn crop, and in the 
following table we will show the average product of 
the six largest corn-producing states for two years: 

BUSHELS PRODUCED. 


STATE. 1889. 1891, ESTIMATED. 

Indiana. 100,650,000 123,622,000 

Illinois. 259,125,000 234,880,000 

Iowa. 349,966,000 350,278,000 

Missouri. 218,841,000 203,210,000 

Kansas. 240,508,000 141,893,000 

Nebraska . 149,543,000 167,652,000 


Total.1,324,639,000 1,221,535,000 


General average for two years, 1,273,087,000 bushels. 

From the above table it will be observed that those 




























HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 133 


six states produced over a billion and a quarter 
bushels of corn. Less than 4 per cent of this enor¬ 
mous product is exported, because Europe does not 
know anything about its food qualities, whereas if 
proper efforts were made by these six states alone 
the export demand could undoubtedly be increased 
to 25 per cent of our corn crop. 

The work done at Edinburg made many converts 
to corn as a human food. A jury of food experts 
awarded it a silver medal, the highest award a bread¬ 
stuff could obtain at the exhibition. The indorse¬ 
ment of undoubted scientific and medical authority 
is thus given to the use of corn as a food. During 
the Edinburg exhibition the Hon. J. M. Rusk, Secre¬ 
tary of Agriculture, appointed Mr. Murphy special 
agent in Europe in the interest of Indian corn. He is 
now in Germany, and he has awakened a deep inter¬ 
est with the government officials in corn as a desir¬ 
able article of food for the army. Secretary Rusk 
deserves the fullest support and the highest praise 
from the farmers of this country for his efforts to in¬ 
troduce corn into Europe. And it is hoped that the 
corn-producing states will now do their full share 
toward carrying on the good work. The following 
statements of our foreign consuls, of foreign officials, 
and peers, all tend to prove what a fine field is open 
to us: 

Consul R. W. Turner, of Cadiz, Spain, writes: “I 
am quite sure that if the food uses of corn were un¬ 
derstood, it would become a kitchen staple in Spain. 
The masses are poor, wages low, and food supplies 
very high. Corn bread would be a great gift to the 
workers of Europe. While corn sells for 20 cents a 


134 HISTORY OR CHICAGO FROM i833 TO 1892. 

bushel in the Missouri Valley, the people in Spain 
pay 8 cents a pound for bread.” 

Consul Roosevelt, Brussels, Belgium, writes: “I 
am confident that if corn were properly introduced 
in this market and a pamphlet published in the 
French language showing the different methods of 
preparing the same for food, the result would be that 
within twelve months two-thirds of the peasants, 
mechanics, and well-to-do classes would be using it.” 

A leading daily newspaper in Scotland said: “The 
corn seems to be as nourishing as wheat or oatmeal 
is. It is for one thing a good deal cheaper. If people 
are once acquainted with the really wholesome and 
nutritious forms of food made from corn, it will be¬ 
come so popular that exportations from America 
will be large enough to prevent any waste what¬ 
ever.” 

The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone wrote “ that the 
corn bread sent him suited his taste perfectly, and he 
would be most happy to know that the British 
people were taking more of our corn than they have 
in the past.” 

Clark E. Carr, Minister to Copenhagen, says: “I 
think with systematic effort our Indian corn can be 
brought into general use in all Scandinavian coun¬ 
tries. I believe that in introducing this wholesome, 
nutritious food we shall be doing them a greater 
kindness than ourselves.” 

Julius Goldschmitt, Consul General at Vienna, says: 
“There is room in Europe for the consumption of 
several hundred million bushels of American corn per 
year, much of as food for human beings who do 
not get enough to eat.” 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 135 

Many more facts could be stated if space permitted, 
but enough has been stated to demonstrate to every 
intelligent person that there is a grand field in Eu¬ 
rope for our corn product, which promises financial 
prosperity to our people and great good to the 
hungry masses of Europe. Shall we cultivate the 
field and reap the harvest ? I think there should be 
a conference of interested representatives and citizens 
of our corn states and an interchange of views as to 
the best manner of proceeding in this matter. I hope 
our citizens will give an expression of their views on 
this subject. R. H. Ferguson. 

As will be seen on the last few pages I have added 
some valuable statistics and also some hints as to 
the use of our large corn crop among the starving 
workingmen of Europe that I trust will lead many to 
think over the subject, and do all in their power to 
bring it into general use. I was astonished myself 
when I was over in ’74, to find that the general im¬ 
pression was that corn was only fit food for animals 
and not at all fitted for use on the table, but where 
properly cooked, the most delicious cakes or bread can 
be made from it. But now as there is no longer any 
doubt as to the World’s Fair being a great success, 
as many of the large buildings are already erected on 
the ground, and several others of immense size in 
process of construction, it certainly becomes us as 
good citizens to do all in our power to increase the 
number of visitors, as well as that of the contribu¬ 
tors, that we may make this, as it is confidently 
hoped it will be, the most magnificent and wonderful 
display of goods, merchandise, and the various arts 
and sciences of every sort and description ever seen 


136 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM i833 TO 1892. 


before, not only in the United States, but in the whole 
civilized world, and could you see the wonderful pro¬ 
gress they are making in the park, not only in the 
erection and completion of the immense buildings, 
some of which are finished of nearly so, showing 
a display of artistic taste in their outside finish 
and adornment, that will bring not only deserved 
credit upon the architects employed, but will add 
greatly to the effect that will be produced when 
they are all completed, together with the improve¬ 
ments made and contemplated in the future, to 
add not only to the beauty of the park with its 
delightful drives and walks, its suburbs, shrubs 
and flower beds, with several green houses that 
will be the admiration of all who delight not only 
in the works of art, but also in the beauties of 
nature, which will be seen also in the construction of 
the water courses leading from our magnificent lake, 
that is confidently expected will add so much to the 
pleasure of the many million of people that we hope 
to have visiting our fair, with all its wonderful sights 
and attractions of all kinds, not only to furnish them 
amusement while here and enjoying them, but will 
also increase their knowledge and lead them to make 
comparisons between the work done in this country; 
with all the help of the machinery invented to lessen 
labor, and the old fashioned way of emplo 3 dng man¬ 
ual labor to make and complete even the most deli¬ 
cate pieces of machinery as that found in the making 
of watches, clocks, etc., which has so cheapened them 
in the last fifty years that you can purchase as good 
a watch now for $20 as you could then for $200. I 
merely mention that as it was the first to come into 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 13 ? 


my mind, my watch lying before me. It is the same 
with hundreds of other pieces of mechanism that have 
been brought into daify use, saving time and labor 
ever}' hour of the day. When I was a boy it was cus¬ 
tomary to have a spinning wheel in almost every 
house to make the necessary articles for use in the 
family, when the wonderful invention of the spinning 
jenny to run by machinery, was introduced in Man¬ 
chester, in the north of England, by the noted firm of 
Peel, Ainsworth & Co. (Sir Robert Peel being one of 
the partners), who soon had six or eight different fac¬ 
tories running, employing, as it was stated by them 
in parliament, over 10,000 hands, and cheapening all 
kinds of cotton cloth to such an extent that a yard 
can be purchased now at five cents that in the old 
times spoken of would have cost 50 cents, and in the 
larger pieces of machinery it is the same. When the 
canal was first started here they wanted a large num¬ 
ber of very heavy screw bolts for the making of the 
locks, each of which took a man several hours to 
make at a very heavy cost, but one of our citizens, 
who took the contract, by a very simple contrivance, 
made a machine that cut the screw much better in a 
few minutes that the old plan did in several hours, 
and saved a large sum by the invention, which is now 
used all over the world, and reduced the price of 
screws to a mere minimum of what the}^ were before. 
It is the same with hundreds of other articles that 
might be mentioned, but enough has been said to 
show the benefits arising from the use of machinery, 
and in connection with that I must say a few words 
about the power of steam, the grand mover of all our 
great enterprises. What would Chicago be without 


138 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


steam, and yet it is doubtful if it was ever known or 
thought of as a useful power in the world until with¬ 
in the last 75 years. I have heard my father say that 
there were not 20 steam engines in the city of Lon¬ 
don at that time. When he had one set up in his 
factory it was considered such a wonder that he in¬ 
vited a large party of his friends to see the steam 
turned on to set the machinery in motion, and just 
think at the present time what an immense power 
has got to be in the world. Certainly very little 
of the immense tracts of lands lying hundreds of 
miles west of us could ever have been brought into 
market without steam, and the long trains of grain and 
other products of the soil would never have been seen 
entering our cities. To destroy or neglect to use the 
pov/er of steam, half the workshops in the city would 
be closed at once and most kinds of business brought 
to a standstill. When I first commenced using it in 
1842 for the purpose of melting tallow and lard, it 
was quite an improvement on old ways, and to have 
melted all by fire, would have covered acres of land 
with small pans, and employed hundreds of men to 
attend to them; but steam came to the rescue, and 
what it has done for us in bringing the millions of 
bushels of grain and carloads of stock of all kinds 
from the country to our city is past all belief, and to 
think that it is only 75 years since its power was 
first discovered and used to any advantage for the 
benefit of mankind is truly wonderful to think of— 
that the knowledge of its worth to mankind should 
have lain dormant so many hundreds of years. 

I took another stroll in the park yesterday and was 
perfectly astonished at the change a little over a week 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM i833 TO 1802. 139 

had made in it. Several more immense buildings 
have been commenced. They have several thou¬ 
sand men employed, so they ought to make 
some show, the weather being very favorable for 
the work. The building for the cattle department 
alone will cover 70 acres of land. 


The following extract from an article in the 
Tribune by Julian Ralph, of New York, will describe 
the work going on there better than I can, and I will 
close with a description of the park by Mr. Gage, 
the president of the commissioners. 

While investigating the management and prospects 
of the World’s Fair, I was a resident of Chicago for 
more than a fortnight. Though a born New Yorker, 
yet the roar and bustle of the place were sufficient to 
first astonish and then to fatigue me. I was led to 
examine the city and to cross-examine some of its 
leading men. I came away compelled to ac¬ 
knowledge its possession of certain forceful 
qualities which I never saw exhibited in the 
same degree anywhere else. I got a satisfac¬ 
tory explanation of its growth and achievements, as 
well as proof that it must continue to expand in pop¬ 
ulation and commercial influence, and without losing 
a particle of pride or faith in New York, I acquired a 
respect for Chicago, such as it is most likely that any 
American who makes a similar investigation must 
share with me. I have spoken of the roar and bustle 
and energy of the place; everybody is in such a hurry 
and going at such a pace, that if a stranger asks his 



140 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


way lie is apt to have to walk some distance with 
him to gain the information. The whole business of 
life is carried on at high pressure, and the pithy part 
of Chicago is like 300 acres of New York stock ex¬ 
change when trading is active. European visitors 
ihave written that there are no such crowds any¬ 
where as gather on Broadway, and this is true most 
of the time; but there is one hour in Chicago, between 
5:30 and 6:30, when certain streets are so packed with 
people, as to make Broadway, New York, look deso¬ 
late in comparison. That is the hour when the 
famous tall buildings in the heart of the city pour 
forth their inhabitants on the pavements. We shall 
see these crowds, simply and satisfactorily accounted 
for presently, but they exhibit only one phase of the 
high pressure existence, and only one feature among 
the many that distinguish the city. In the tall build¬ 
ings are the most modern and rapid elevators—ma¬ 
chines that fly up through the towers like glass balls 
from a trap. The slow going stranger who has been 
walking along the streets feels himself crowded into 
one of these frail looking baskets of steel wire, and 
the next instant at the touch of the elevator bo} r up 
goes the whole load, as a feather is caught up by the 
gale. The descent is more simple, something lets 
go and you fall from 10 to 15 stories, as it may hap¬ 
pen. Our horse cars in New York run at the rate of 
about six miles an hour. The cable cars of Chicago 
make about nine in the center of the city, and 12 to 
13 where the population is less dense. They go in 
trains of two cars each with much noise and ringing 
of bells, but they distribute the people grandly at 
every corner where necessary. It is a rapid and 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 141 


business like city. The speed with which cattle are 
killed and hogs are turned into slabs of pork has 
amazed the world, but it is merely an effort of the 
butchers to keep up with the rest of the city. The 
only slow things in Chicago are the steam railway 
trains. I do not knowhow many very tall buildings 
there are in the town, but they must number over a 
dozen. Some of them are artistically designed to 
hide their height, while some are mere square buildings, 
punctured with many windows, and stand above 
their i;eighbors disfiguring the whole block. Most 
of them are very elegantly and completely appointed 
in every particular, as to the interior, even to the 
using of polished marble for hallway and steps. 
There is not an office building in New York that can 
compare with Chicago’s so-called Chamber of Com¬ 
merce building so far as are concerned the advantages 
of light, air, openness and roominess, and finished as 
above described. It is a great mistake for the east 
to think they alone possess all the elegant, rich and 
ornamental outgrowths of the age, or that they know 
more of luxury and comfort than the west, with their 
floors of deftly laid mosaic works, walls of marble 
and onyx, balustrades of copper worked artistically, 
elegant electric fixtures and all kinds of lux¬ 
uries to add to their enjoyment. The same may be 
said of their costly and elegant public rooms which 
must force an exclamation of praise however unwill¬ 
ingly it comes. 

I have referred to the number of these stupendous 
structures. Let it be known next that they are all in 
a very small district, that narrow area which com¬ 
poses Chicago’s office region, which lies between Lake 


142 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

Michigan and all the principal railroad districts, and 
at the edges of which one-twenty-fifth of all the rail¬ 
road mileage of the world is said to terminate,though 
the district is but little more than one-half a mile 
square or 400 acres in extent. One of these buildings 
—and not the largest—has a population of 4,000 
persons. Last October there were 7,000 offices in the 
tall buildings of Chicago and 7,000 more were under 
way in buildings then undergoing construction. The 
reader now understands why in the heart of Chicago 
every work-day eYening the crowds convey the idea 
that our Broadway is a deserted thoroughfare as 
compared with, say, the corner of Clark and Jackson 
streets. 

Chicago expects to become the largest city in 
America—a city which, in fifty years, shall be larger 
than the consolidated cities that may form New 
York at that time. 

Now on what substance does Chicago feed that she 
should foresee herself so great? What manner of 
men are those of Chicago ? What are the wlivs and 
the wherefores of her growth? 

It seems to have ever been, as it is now, a city of 
young men. One Chicagoan accounts for its low 
death rate on the ground that not even its leading 
men are yet old enough to die. The young men who 
drifted there from the eastern states after the close of 
the war all agree that the thing which most as¬ 
tonished them was the youthfulness of the most active 
business men. Marshall Field, Potter Palmer, and 
the rest,heading very large mercantile establishments, 
were young fellows. 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 143 


It is one of the peculiarities of Chicago that one 
finds not only the capitalists but the storekeepers 
discussing the whole country with a familiarity as 
strange to a man from the Atlantic coast as Nebraska 
is strange to most Philadelphians or New Yorkers. 
But the well-informed and ‘‘bustling 1 ’ Chicagoan is 
familiar with the differing districts of the entire west, 
north, and south, with their crops, industries, wants, 
financial status, and means of intercommunication. 
As in London we find men whose business field is the 
world, so in Chicago we find the business men talking 
not of one section or of Europe—as is largely 
the case in New York, but discussing the affairs of 
the entire country. The figures which garnish their 
conversation are bewildering, but if they are analyzed 
or even comprehended they will reveal to the listener 
how vast and how wealthy a region acknowledges 
Chicago as its market and its financial and trading 
center. 

Let me repeat a digest of what several influential 
men of that city said upon the subject. Chicago is 
the center of a circle of 1,000 miles diameter. If you 
draw a line northward 500 miles you find everywhere 
arable land and timber. The same is true with re¬ 
spect to a line drawn 500 miles in a northwesterly 
course. For 650 miles westward there is no change 
in the rich and alluring prospect, and so all around 
the circle, except where Lake Michigan interrupts it, 
the same conditions are found. Moreover, the lake 
itself is a very valuable element in commerce. The 
rays or spokes in all these directions become materi¬ 
alized in the form of the tracks of thirty-five railways 
which enter the city. Twenty-two of these are great 


144 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

companies and ata^short distance subradialsmadeby 
other railroads raise the number to fifty roads. Thus is 
found a vast population connected easily and directly 
with a common center, to which everything they 
produce can be brought, and from which all that con¬ 
tributes to the material progress and comfort of man 
may be economically distributed. The rapid increase 
in wealth of both the city and the tributary region is 
due to the fact that every year both produce more and 
have more to sell and less to buy. 

Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, 
and Michigan (the states most tributary to Chicago), 
have paid off their mortgages, and are absorbing 
money and investing it in local improvements. 

What they earn is now their own, and it comes 
back to them in the form of money. This money 
used to be shipped to the east, to which these states 
were in debt, but now it is invested where it is earned, 
and the consequence has been that in the last five or 
six years the west has rarely shipped any currency 
east, but has been constantly drawing it from there. 

In this change of condition is seen an explanation 
of much that has made Chicago peculiar. 

When we understand what are the agricultural re¬ 
sources of the region for which Chicago is the trading 
post we perceive how certain it was that its debt 
would be paid and that great wealth would follow. 
The corn lands of Illinois return a profit of $15 to the 
acre, raising 50 to 60 bushels at 4214 cents a bushel 
last year, and at a cost for cultivation of only $7 an 
acre. Wheat produces $22.50 an acre, costs a little 
less than corn, and returns a profit of from $12 to 
$15. Oats run 55 bushels to the acre, at 27 cents a 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 145 


bushel, and cost the average farmer only, say, $6 an 
acre, returning $8 or $9 an acre in profit. These 
figures will vary as to production, cost, and profit, 
but it is believed that they represent a fair average. 
This midland county, of which Chicago is the capi¬ 
tal, produces 400,000,000 bushels of wheat, 2,000,- 
000,000 bushels of corn, 700,000,000 bushels of oats, 
50,000,000 hogs, 28,000,000 horses, 30,000,000 
sheep, and so on, to cease before the reader is wearied; 
but in no single instance is the region producing with¬ 
in 50 per cent, of what it will be made to yield before 
the expiration of the next twenty years. Farming 
there has been haphazard, rude, and wasteful; but as 
it begins to pay well, the methods begin to improve. 
Drainage going on will add new lands, and better 
methods will swell the crops, so that, for instance, 
where sixty bushels of corn to the acre are now 
grown at least 100 bushels will be harvested. All 
the corn lands are now settled, but they are not im¬ 
proved. They will yet double in value. It is different 
with wheat; with that the maximum production will 
soon be attained. 

Such is the wealth that Chicago counts up as trib¬ 
utary to her. By the railroads that dissect this 
opulent region she is rivited to the midland, the 
southern, and the western country bet ween the Rock¬ 
ies and the Alleghanies. She is closely allied to the 
south, because she is manufacturing and distributing 
much that the south needs and can get most econom¬ 
ically from her. Chicago has become the third man¬ 
ufacturing city in the Union, and it is drawing 
manufacturers away from the east faster than most 
persons in the east imagine. Today it is a great 


146 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

Troy stovemaking establishment that has moved to 
Chicago; the week before it was a Massachusetts 
shoe factory that went there. Many great establish¬ 
ments have gone there, but more must follow, be¬ 
cause Chicago is not only the center of the midland 
region in respect of the distribution of made-up wares, 
but also for the concentration of raw materials. 
Chicago must lead in the manufacture of all goods of 
which wood, leather, and iron are the basis. The 
revolution that took place in the meat trade when 
Chicago took the lead in that industry affected the 
whole leather and hide industry. Cattle are dropping 
90,000 skins a week in Chicago and the trade is con¬ 
fined to Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha and 
St. Paul. It is idle to suppose that those skins will 
be sent across the Alleghanies to be turned into goods 
and sent back again. Wisconsin has become the 
great tanning state, and all over the district close 
around Chicago are factories and factory towns 
where hides are turned into leather goods. The west 
still gets its finer goods in the east, but it is making 
the coarser grades, and to such an extent as to give 
a touch of New England color to the towns and vil¬ 
lages around Chicago. 

This is not an unnatural rivalry that has grown 
up. The former condition of western dependence 
was unnatural. The science of profitable business 
lies in the practice of economy. Chicago has in 
abundance all the fuels except hard coal. She has 
coal, oil, stone, brick—everything that is needed for 
building and for living. Manufactures gravitate to 
such a place for economical reasons. The population 
of the north Atlantic division, including Pennsylvania 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 147 


and Massachusetts, and acknowledging New York 
as its center, is 17,401,000. The population of the 
northern center division, trading with Chicago, is 
22,362,279. Every one has seen each succeeding 
census shift the center of population further and 
further west, but not every one is habituated to put¬ 
ting two and two together. 

“ Chicago is yet so young and busy,” said he who 
is perhaps the leading banker there, “she has no 
time for anything beyond each citizen’s private 
affairs. It is hard to get men to serve on a commit¬ 
tee. The only thing that saves us from being boors 
is our civic pride. We are fond, proud, and enthus¬ 
iastic in that respect. But we know that Chicago is 
not rich like New York. She has no bulk of capital 
lying ready for investment and reinvestment; yet 
she is no longer poor. She has just got over her pov¬ 
erty, and the next stage, bringing accumulated 
wealth, will quickly follow. Her growth in this 
respect is more than paralleled by her development 
into an industrial center.” 

But the visitor’s heart warms to the town when 
he sees its parks and its homes. In them is ample 
assurance that not every breath is “business,” and 
not every thought commercial. Once out of the 
thicket of the business and semi-business district the 
dwellings of the people reach mile upon mile away 
along pleasant boulevards and avenues, or facing 
noble parks and parkways, or in a succession of vil¬ 
lages, green and gay with foliage and flowers. 

Land in New York has been too costly to permit 
of these villa-like dwellings, but that does not alter 
the fact that existence in a home hemmed in by 


148 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

other houses is at best but a crippled living. There 
never has been any valid excuse for the building of 
those compressed houses by New York millionaires. 
It sounds like a Celtic bull, but, in my opinion, the 
poorer millionaires of Prairie avenue are better off. 
A peculiarity of the buildings in Chicago is in the 
great variety of building stones that are employed 
in their construction. Where we would build two 
blocks of brown-stone, I have counted thirteen vari¬ 
eties of beautiful and differing building material. 
Moreover, the contrasts in architectural designs evi¬ 
dence among Chicago house-owners a complete sway 
of individual taste. It is in these beautiful homes 
that the people who do not know what to do with 
their club-houses hold their card parties; it is to 
them that they bring their visitors and friends; in 
short, it is at home that the Chicagoan recreates and 
loafs. 

It is said, and I have no reason to doubt it, that 
the clerks and small tradesmen who live in thousands 
of these pretty little boxes are the owners of their 
homes; also that the tenements of the rich display 
evidence of a tasteful and costly garnering of the 
globe for articles of luxury and virtue. 

Chicago’s park system is so truly its crown, or its 
diadem, that its fame may lead to the thought that 
enough has been said about it. That is not the case, 
however, for the parks change and improve so con¬ 
stantly that the average Chicagoan finds some of 
them outgrowing his knowledge unless he goes to 
them as he ought to go to his prayers. It is not in 
extent that the city’s parks are extraordinary, for, 
all told, they comprise less than 2,000 acres. It is 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 149 


the energy that has given rise to them, and the taste 
and enthusiasm which have been expended upon 
them that cause our wonder. Sand and swamp 
were at the bottom of them, and if their surface now 
roll in gentle undulations, it is because the earth that 
was dug out for the making of ponds has been subse¬ 
quently applied to the forming of hills and knolls. 
The people go to some of them upon the boulevards 
of which I have spoken, beneath trees and beside 
lawns and gorgeous flower beds, having their senses 
sharpened in anticipation of the pleasure grounds 
beyond, as the heralds in some old plays prepare us 
for the action that is to follow. Once the parks are 
reached they are found to be literally for the use of 
the people, who own them. I have a fancy that a 
people who are so largely American would not suffer 
them to be otherwise. There are no signs warning 
the people off the grass or announcing that they 
“may look, but mustn’t touch” whatever there is to 
see. The people swarm all over the grass, and yet 
it continues beautiful day after day and year after 
year. The floral displays seem unharmed; at any 
rate, we have none to compare with them in any At¬ 
lantic coast parks. The people even picnic on the 
sward, and those who can appreciate such license 
find, ready at hand, baskets in which to hide the 
litter which follows. And, 0 ye who manage other 
parks, we wot of, know that these Chicago play¬ 
grounds, seem as free from harm and eyesore as any 
in the land. 

The best parks face the great lake, and get won¬ 
drous charms of dignity and beauty from it. At the 
North Side the Lincoln Park Commissioners at great 


150 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

expense are building out into the lake, making a 
handsome paved beach, sea-wall, esplanade, and 
drive to inclose a long, broad body of the lake water. 
Although the great blue lake is at the city’s edge, 
there is little or no sailing or pleasure-boating upon 
it. It is too rude and treacherous. Therefore these 
Commissioners of the Lincoln Park are inclosing be¬ 
hind their new-made land a water-course for sailing 
and rowing, for racing, and more indolent acquatic 
sport. The Lake Shore drive, when completed, will 
be three miles in length, and will connect with yet 
another notable road to Fort Sheridan, 25 miles in 
length. All these beauties form part of the main ex¬ 
hibit at the Columbian Exposition. Realizing this, 
the municipality has not only voted $5,000,000 to 
the exposition, but has set apart $3,500,000 for 
beautifying and improving the city in readiness for 
the exposition and its visitors, even as a bride be- 
decketh herself for her husband. That is well; but it 
is not her beauty that will most interest the visitors 
to Chicago—but Chicago itself, as a city, will be the 
attraction. 

In interviews with Chicago men the newspapers 
have obtained many estimates of the number of visit¬ 
ors who will attend the Columbian Exposition. One 
calculation which is called conservative, is that 10,- 
000,000 persons will see the display, and will leave 
$300,000,000 in the city. It is not easy to judge of 
such estimates, but we know that there is a wider 
interest in this exposition than in any that was ever 
held. We know also that in the foremost countries 
of Europe workmen’s clubs and popular lotteries have 
been established or projected for the purpose of 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1S33 TO 1892. 151 


sending their most fortunate participants to Chicago 
—a few of many signs of an uncommon desire to wit¬ 
ness the great exposition. 

Whatever these visitors have heard or thought of 
Chicago, they will find it not only an impressive but 
a substantial city. It will speak to every under¬ 
standing of the speed with which it is hastening to a 
place among the world’s capitals. Those strangers 
who travel farther in our west may find other towns 
that have builded too much upon the false prospects 
of districts where the crops have proved uncertain. 
They may see still other showy cities, where the 
niain activity is in the direction of “swapping” real 
estate. It is a peculiar industry, accompanied by 
much bustle and lying. But they will not find in 
Chicago anything that will disturb its tendency to 
impress them with a solidity and a degree of enter¬ 
prise and prosperity that are only excelled by the 
almost idolatrous faith of the people in their com¬ 
munity. The city’s broad and regular thorough¬ 
fares will astonish many of us who have imbibed 
the theory that streets are first mapped out by cows; 
its alley system between streets will win the admira¬ 
tion of those who live where alleys are unknown; its 
many little homes will speak volumes for the respon¬ 
sibility and self-respect of a great bod}'' of its citizens. 

The discovery that the city’s harbor is made up of 
forty-one miles of the banks of an internal river will 
lead to the satisfactory knowledge that it has pre¬ 
served its beautiful front upon Lake Michigan as an 
ornament. Xhis has been bordered by parks and 
parkways in pursuance of a plan that is interrupted 
to an important extent only where a pioneer railway 


152 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

came without the fore-knowledge that it would^event- 
ually develop into a nuisance and an eyesore. Its 
splendid hotels, theaters, schools, churches, galleries, 
and public works and ornaments will commend the 
city to many who will not study its commercial side. 
In short, it will be found that those who visit the 
Exposition will not afterwards reflect upon its 
assembled proofs of the triumphs of man and of 
civilization without recalling Chicago’s contribution 
to the sum. Julian Ralph. 

The following is a copy of Mr. Gage’s report: 

The South Park system consists of two great 
parks, connected by the Midway Plaisance, a strip of 
land a mile long and 600 feet wide, and united by 
boulevards with the heart of the city and with the 
West Side and North Side parks. Both Washington 
and Jackson parks, and the Midway Plaisance as 
well, embracing acres have been placed at the dis¬ 
posal of the Columbian Exposition. The South Side 
system of cable cars connects with the two parks, 
and the Illinois Central railroad passes near the 
western boundary of Jackson park, and with other 
roads will be directly connected with the fair during 
its continuance. 

By reason of the greater picturesqueness of a lake 
shore site, and the superior accessibility of Jackson 
park, both by water and land, and for the additional 
reason that, its being now for the most part 
improved, it is more readily adaptable to our pur¬ 
poses, so Jackson park has been chosen as the princi¬ 
pal site of the fair. The thirty acres at the north, 
which are now laid out and under cultivation, form 
but a small fraction of the entire area of this park, 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 153 


which extends a mile further south, broadening con¬ 
stantly along the curving shore of the lake. 

In this improved portion, much of which is thickly 
wooded with native trees, the ground is being pre¬ 
pared for a system of lagoons andcanalsfrom 100 to 
300 feet wide, which, with the broad, grassy ter¬ 
races leading down to them, will pass the principal 
buildings, Inclose a wooded island 1,800 feet long, 
and form a circuit of three miles navagable by pleas¬ 
ure boats. 

These canals, which will be crossed by many 
bridges, and will connect with the lake at two points, 
one at the northern limit of the improved portion of 
the park; and the other, half a mile further south. 
At this point, extending eastward into the lake, 
1,200 feet, will be piers, which will afford a landing 
place for lake steamers, and inclose a harbor for 
the picturesque little pleasure boats of all epochs 
and nations, which will carry passengers along 
the canals, and stopping at numerous landing 
places. 

This harbor will be bounded on the east, far out in 
the lake, by the long-columned facade of the Casino, 
in whose free spaces crowds of men and women, pro¬ 
tected by its ceiling of gray awnings, can look east to 
the lake and west to the long vista between the main 
edifices as far as the gilded dome of the Administra¬ 
tion building. 

The first notable object on this vista will be the 
colossal statue of Liberty rising out of the lagoon at 
the point where it enters the land. Beyond this, will 
lie a broad basin, from which grassy terraces and 
broad walks will lead, on the north, to the south 


154 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 

elevation .of the enormous main building; and, on the 
south, to the structure dedicated to agriculture. 

The main building extending northwestward a 
third of a mile, will be devoted to manufactures and 
liberal arts, and will receive from all nations the rich 
products of modern workmanship. Recalling archi¬ 
tecturally the period of the classic revival, it has the 
vivacity, the emphatic joyousness of that awakening 
epoch. The long, low lines of its sloping roof, sup¬ 
ported by rows of arches, will be relieved by a cen¬ 
tral dome over the great main entrance, and emblem¬ 
atic statuary and flouting banners will add to its 
festive character. The north elevation of the classic 
edifice devoted to agriculture will show a long arcade 
behind Corinthian ^columns supporting a series of 
triple arches and three low graceful domes. Liberally 
adorned will sculpture and enriched with color, this 
building, by its simplicity, refinement, and grace, will 
be idyllically expressive of pastoral serenity and 
peace. At its noble entrance a statue of Ceres will 
offer hospitality to the fruits of the earth. Beyond 
it at the south sixty-tliree acres of land will be 
reserved for the live stock exhibit. 

The lofty octagonal domes of the Administration 
building forms the central point of the architectural 
scheme. Rising from the columned stories of its 
square base 250 feet into the air, it will stand in the 
center of a spacious open plaza, adorned with statu¬ 
ary and fountains, with flower beds and terraces, 
sloping at the east down to the main lagoon. North 
of the plaza will be the two buildings devoted to 
mines and electricity, the latter bristling with points 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 155 


and pinnacles, as if to entrap from the air the in¬ 
tangible element whose achievements it will display. 

South of the plaza will be Machinery hall, with its 
power-house at the southeast corner. A sub-way at 
the west wall will pass under the terminal railway 
loop of the Illinois Central road to the circular 
machinery annex within. North of this railway loop 
and along the western limit of the park will be the 
Transportation building. Still further north, lying 
west of the north branch of the lagoon, at the point 
where it encloses the wooded island, will extend the 
long shining surfaces and the gracefully curving roof 
of the crystal palace of horticulture. P'ollowing the 
lagoon northward one will pass the Women’s build¬ 
ing, and eastward will reach the island devoted to 
the novel and interesting fisheries exhibit, shown in 
an effective low-roofed Romanesque structure, 
flanked by two vast circular aquaria, in which the 
spectator can look upward through clear waters and 
study the creatures of ocean and river. This build¬ 
ing will be directly west of the northern opening of 
the system of lagoorts into Lake Michigan, and in a 
straight line with the Government building and the 
main building, which extend along the lake shore to 
the southeast. 

North of the lagoon which bounds this fisheries 
island lies the present improved portion of Jackson 
park, which will be reserved for the buildings of 
states and foreign governments. The Illinois build¬ 
ing will occupy a commanding position here, its 
classic dome being visible over the long lagoon from 
the central plaza. 


156 HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 


At the junction of the Midway Plaisance with Jack- 
son park is the site chosen for the Proctor tower, 
which, rising 1,100 feet into the air, will command a 
. majestic view of the beautiful grounds and buildings 
brilliant with light and color, and the great city 
lying between boundless levels of land and sea. 

Thus the various portions of the exhibition will be 
equally accessible by water and by land. The 
traveler may come by carriage, by cable, or by rail; 
and be carried from one section to another on the 
elevated roads which will connect and perhaps pene¬ 
trate the buildings, or follow the broad foot-ways 
which will surround them, or he may arrive by 
steamer from the lake, and board one of the gay 
boats which will glide from building to building 
along the lagoons. By whatever path he comes, he 
will behold a scene of commanding beauty—noble 
edifices grouped with consumate art in grounds 
admirably disposed. The genius of the late consult¬ 
ing architect and his eminent coadjutors will here 
proclaim to the world the supremac}^ of American 
architecture, the artistic resources of the new world 
Columbus discovered four centuries ago. 

Art will avail herself to the utmost of her noble 
opportunity. She will follow the fine example of 
nature, who does not insult the majestic monotony 
of her oceans by piling high mountains along the 
shore. From the infinite level of the lake we follow 
the long, low monotonous lines of the chief exhibition 
edifices until the gilded dome of the Administration 
building strikes upward toward the sky. Still fur¬ 
ther landward rises the Proctor tower, the eyes’ final 
resting place in its progress upward. The effect, 


HISTORY OF CHICAGO FROM 1833 TO 1892. 157 


briliant bv day, will be dazzling at night, when the 
level roofs and the domes are outlined with electric 
lights, when foaming illuminated fountains—gor¬ 
geous colors in the air, when the long lagoons reflect 
the myriads of strange lights, and the towers soar 
heavenward like a constellation of glowing stars. 

He who ascends to that dizzy height on a clear day 
in the eventful summer of 1893 will look down upon 
a scene more splendid than the famous pageants of 
antiquity. He will see beautiful btiildings radiant 
with color and flashing the sunlight from their gilded 
pinnacles and domes; blue lagoons and rivers break¬ 
ing into sparkling fountains and enclosing islands 
wooded with primeval oak. He will look down on 
flowery terraces sloping to the stone paved beach, on 
statues rising from land and water to welcome the 
people of the earth, on waving flags and gorgeous 
banners like floating rajs of broken light. And 
beyond all, harmonizing and glorifying the bright 
picture, he will behold the boundless waters of Lake 
Michigan, linking the beautiful with the sublime, the 
present with the past, the finite with the infinite. 

Charles Cleaver. 



















































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